The Standouts
At the recent New York International Auto Show, Mandy Eduque was hard put in making his choices; but he finally narrowed down his list to the following
Springtime in New York is a time of rebirth and renewal. The city brushes off its wintry cloak and awakes gratefully from its long, frigid slumber. Leaves appear on once-bare branches, flowers peek from their boxes, and tulip bulbs of every imaginable hue line the sidewalks and sway gently in the breeze. There is palpable excitement in the air as New Yorkers look forward to what another year will bring. It is perhaps a totally appropriate time of the year for the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) to take place, being a venue for carmakers from the four corners of the world to launch and parade their latest creations to the car-buying public and for potential car buyers to find, in one place, the totality of all their possible choices.
I was present, many years ago, at the first NYIAS and this year’s event was held again, as it has every year since, in the cavernous, multi-storied Jacob Javits Civic Centre in lower Manhattan. Viewing the NYIAS was then, and still is, a whole-day affair and I was as amazed this year, as I was then, at the mind-numbing number and variety of the cars on display. At the end of the day though, as one’s exhausted brain has managed to digest, distil, and filtre everything the eyes have seen, there are some that stand out from the crowd and linger in the memory.
The SedanS
These four-door, four seater cars are the bread-and-butter segment of the worldwide automobile market. At this year’s NYIAS were European standouts like the BMW M 760, powered by a 601-horsepower Twin Turbo V12 engine and the perennial crowd-pleasing Volkswagen Beetle Convertible.
Drawing the most crowds, however, with their outstanding and groundbreaking new sedans were the Asian carmakers. Lexus showed its new LS sedan as well as its variant, the first-ever Lexus LS F- Sport. The new Lexus is built on a totally new platform, shared with Lexus- S sporty new LC500, both models likewise sharing the same 5.0-litre V8 engine. To be placed on the worldwide market later this year, it is sure to cause considerable concern among its European competitors. An additional headache for European carmakers is the proliferation of new Korean luxury models, notably from Hyundai, which debuted its totally new Genesis G90 and G80 Sport.
Hyundai has followed the course of Japanese carmakers by spinning off a new luxury division, named Genesis, to make luxury versions of its regular sedan line-up, mimicking the Lexus/Acura/ Infiniti model of its Japanese counterparts. Performance is not, however, the only strong suit of the new Genesis sedans but they are meant to be luxurious, comfortable, and pleasing to the eye as well. In these respects, the new Genesis sedan line-up is a winner. Its cabin and appointments reek of class and indulgence (shades of Lexus!) and viewed from the outside, both Genesis models are simply stunning. In my opinion, the new Hyundai luxury sedans were the stars among the sedans shown at this year’s NYIAS. I personally prefer the sport sedans— sportier versions, some with only two doors. Here you find the latest generation of Porsche’s Panamera. Considered the fastest production luxury sedan, the Panamera has undergone a facelift which corrects the design idiosyncrasies of the first-gen model and is now a truly handsome sedan, aside from being a fire-breathing barnstormer. Audi trotted out its RS line-up—the new RS5 and RS3—while BMW deployed its current M stable, including an M4 convertible and my current crush, the M2. On the Asian side, the only Japanese entry was the Subaru WRX STI, its only erstwhile Japanese competition, the Mitsubishi Lance Evolution, having been discontinued and consigned to the dustbin of automobile history. As if to take its place, Kia has launched its own new sport sedan this year: the Kia Stinger, equipped with a 3.3-litre, twin turbocharged engine.
Two other sport sedans really stood out— the Mercedes-Benz S650 Maybach Cabriolet and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a totally new model, albeit with an old, revered name. The Quadrifoglio (Italian for four-leaf clover, the symbol of famed Alfa Romeo racing cars) will be the designation of Alfa Romeo’s sporting models. Powered by a Ferrari-engineered inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine, the Giulia Quad has a top speed of 149 mph. Inside, however, it is all-Italian luxury with room for four adults. Best of all, the Giulia is quite affordable.
Not so affordable is the M-B S650 Maybach Cabriolet, a convertible version of its extralong wheelbase Maybach luxury limousine. Powered by a turbocharged V12 engine, it has more than enough power to propel this behemoth’s lucky passengers to unimaginable speeds in supreme comfort. Yet, for such a large car, the Maybach cabriolet is blessed with graceful styling that belies its size and bulk. While its price is not for the masses, it is not the most expensive in its class.
The SUVS
The sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) are the fastest growing segment of the car market worldwide. For me, three stood out in this year’s show. The new Mazda CX-9, a truly comfortable and spacious three-row seater, the largest in Mazda’s SUV line-up. Next, the new Range Rover Velar whose US market launch was in this year’s NYIAS. The Velar is positioned between the standard Range Rover and its Sport version. In my mind, though, the standout SUV was the Alfa Romeo Stelvio which is identical, in every respect, to the Giulia sport sedan, except that it has more ground clearance and interior space.
The SporTS CarS
The dream car of every red-blooded male had quite a few standouts this year. Jaguar introduced a new 296-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine as the base engine for its XF sports car. Alfa Romeo presented the two-seater 4C Coupe, which shares Mazda’s MX-5 chassis, so it should
handle really well. The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT continues to draw large crowds. A significant new model is the Lexus LC500, the car maker’s first after its spectacular limitededition LFA super car. I have a weakness for smaller-sized sports cars and some of my favourites were on stage: the Cayman GTS, Audi’s TT RS, and the bestselling Mazda MX-5 in its new RF cabriolet variant.
Finally, the exotica of the car world, the super cars, among which were the Ford GT40, the Acura NSX, and the Audi R8 V10 Convertible.
The ConCepT Cars
Carmakers’ wildly imaginative individual vision of the future of the automobile is the concept cars. These deserve attention because they give clues to what will be on our roads in the years to come. While most of them are projected far into the future and therefore far from being produced soon, some of them (like Subaru’s Ascent SUV Concept) look almost production-ready. The Ascent will be Subaru’s next stab at the three- row SUV market. Mercedes-Benz showed its AMG GT Concept, a totally different looking car from the current 300SL Gullwing-derived AMG GT sports car. The M-B Concept shows a rounder, softer, more Italianate look. I totally loved the Hyundai Genesis GV80 Concept, a futuristic but almost productionready extension of the new Genesis luxury sedans Hyundai has just launched.
That does it for me for this year’s NYIAS. I really cannot say if and when I will attend another NYIAS. What I do know is that, if I am ever back in New York in another springtime, I am certain my feet will take me to the Javits Centre and another New York International Auto Show to view another generation of these magnificent, beautiful machines they call automobiles.
I was as amazed this year, as I was then, at the mind-numbing number and variety of the cars on display