SUPERCAR GLITZ
Lamborghinis, Ferraris and more from the Geneva auto show.
In Geneva, it’s all about density, supercar density that is. The city’s Motor Show, held at the PALEXPO convention centre, may be one of the smaller (measured in floor area) on the international auto show circuit, but what it lacks in acreage it more than makes up for in horsepower. Credit Switzerland’s stratospheric per capita income and/or the fact that, without any significant indigenous automakers, the populace is without automotive prejudice, but whatever the case, there is more exotica on the PALEXPO’s show floor than anywhere else in the world. Indeed, so replete with supercars is the two-floor show that such stalwart dream cars as Koenigsegg and Ruf, usually the highlight of any auto exhibit, are merely bit players. As Marek Reichman, chief designer for Aston Martin, so aptly put it, “This is where the rich come to shop and they’re not afraid to spend.”
That’s why Ferrari’s show booth is seemingly large enough to accommodate Chevrolet at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. They’re taking the wrappers off a new turbocharged version of its California roadster and, even if that isn’t the most exciting Prancing Horse ever to debut on Swiss soil, the assembled press swarms the booth like Enzo has risen from the grave. That the company is also the first to announce Apple’s CarPlay infotainment in its dashboards — in the FF shooting brake — may add a little to the drama, but really, people are here to see red cars that make lots of noise.
Even more extreme, though, is the Pagani booth where the Italian boutique supercar house is showing off its Zonda Revolucion. Pagani calls it a “revolution in the concept of art applied to pure speed,” but like Ferrari’s FXX, it is an automotive indulgence extraordinaire. It is neither road legal or homologated for any current race series, its sole purpose to allow really rich enthusiasts to drive very fast on exclusive, privately-owned race tracks. This last it will do with some alacrity as this final evolution of the Zonda now boasts 800 horsepower motivating but 1,070 kilograms. That it is one of the most outrageous and beautiful shapes ever crafted by man (the twotone carbon fibre, black with a hint of navy blue, is nothing short of gorgeous) just means that Ferrari will finally have at least a little competition for the hearts and wallets of the uber-wealthy.
Barely less phantasmagorical — and right next to the Pagani booth — is Gumpert’s Apollo, a seeming mash of Bugatti styling with Audi powertrains, all dripped in a chromed red sheen that would make any California Kustom Krome house, well, red with envy. Powered by a twin turbocharged version of Audi’s 4.2-litre V8,
People are here to see red cars that make lots of noise
the Apollo S boasts 750 horsepower that only has to motivate 1,200 kilograms. Speed, therefore, matches its outrageous colour scheme, Gumpert claiming the supercar accelerates to 100 kilometres an hour in less than three seconds, capped by a top speed of somewhere around 360 kilometres an hour. The Gumpert reputedly has so much downforce that it could be driven upside down above 200 km/h thanks to a wing that’s as big as a circa-’70s Can-AM racer. Yours for a mere 535,000 euros.
McLaren’s stand is nearby and, last year when it unveiled the 903hp P1, it could have competed in the outrage department with the Pagani and Gumpert. But this year’s unveiling is only the 650S, its 641 horsepower ho-hum compared with the superpower silliness elsewhere in the salon. That it might be the best car on the show floor will hopefully make up for its relative lack of drama when the Eurozone’s moneyed come calling.
Farther afield, Aston Martin showed off its (relatively) budgetpriced N430, rumoured to go on sale in the United States for just a smidgen over $100,000. Alfa Romeo took the wraps off a roofless Spider version of its achingly gorgeous 4C, though to be honest, it’s starting to look like we may never see Alfas in Canada despite repeated assurances. Maserati revealed an even ritzier version of its flagship Quattroporte but, since Switzerland is almost as snowbound as our Great White North, I suspect the newly released all-wheeldrive Ghibli will be the Maser of choice amongst semi-wealthy Swiss (Maserati being Ferrari’s downmarket brand). Even Lexus got in on the act with an RC F GT3 racer that sported a decidedly un-Toyota-like psychedelic paint scheme.
But, what further sets Geneva apart from all other motor shows is the incredible display of boutique automakers that cater exclusively to the supercar crowd. Ruf had a booth almost as big as Porsche’s. Switzerland’s Koenigsegg was there with turbochargers that looked big enough to swallow low-flying birds whole and a claim of 1,340 horsepower (no, that’s not a typo). There was something called a Nimrod Zero which looked suspiciously like a Ferrari 458 that had its plumage seriously ruffled. It was sharing booth space with something called the Avanti Rosso, which is essentially a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 — as if they don’t already cost enough — given the same somewhat gaudy treatment. Indeed, if you want a supercar that makes a Bugatti Veyron seem dainty and Ferraris cheap, then Geneva is the place to shop.
But even they aren’t the craziest things for sale on the PALEXPO floor. No way. For that, you had to go to the Sbarro booth. There you’d find three iterations of something called the Lazareth project, the nuttiest of which is essentially a fourwheeled, road-going ATV powered by a 3.0-litre V8 lifted from a Magnum, P.I.-era Ferrari 308. Just the thing if euros are burning a hole in your wallet and strapping yourself to an Apollo moon rocket no longer gets the adrenaline surging.