Tuesday 6th March 2012

PH blog: Geneva musings

Chris Harris reports back on his Geneva show...

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The Bentley is vast, moderately tasteless and was, I am told, unveiled to the world with some chap emerging from the thing brandishing a large bird of prey on his arm.

A proper Bentley, says Harris

Does any of this matter? I mean does it matter that a bunch of western journalists think it's a bit preposterous? I think the bloke climbing out of the back seat as I watched it probably answered that question. A Bentley employee ushered everyone out the way, saying the gentleman in question was one of the company's best customers. Judging by the shoes he was wearing - probably worth more than my house - I didn't doubt the veracity of this statement.

And this is the point with the new emerging class of uber-metal. It doesn't matter what I, or you think. If Mr Crazy Shoes is a fan Bentley has done its job. Incidentally, to cleanse my pallet, I went to gawp at the Mulsanne again. That's a proper Bentley.

Glorious folly on the Lambo stand

The Aventador J is just the type of folly we need in times of economic strife. In the flesh, it's the liquidity of the red paint that leaves you giggling. That and the girl perched on the bonnet.

The new Boxster is a stunning looking car, and will probably reverse the sales trend that saw the 911 become the volume seller. It is just so well proportioned. I bumped into the bloke who designed it, a Brit whose name escapes me, and he was just standing in a daze. Can there be a more gratifying day's work than watching thousands of people hurl praise in your direction?

Mixed feelings on the new Mercedes A-Class. It'll cause the VW Golf problems, but it's just so conventional after the last two versions. The fact is Merc tried hard to penetrate a new market with a radical machine, and it didn't succeed the way it wanted to. The new A-Class is a reaction to that.

M3 DTM: BMW is back, look out Merc and Audi

The BMW M6 looks great in the flesh: understated yet threatening. The BMW DTM car has a rear wing that is suspended on two carbon uprights. It's stunning. Sister company Mini has a van on its stand. And further desecration of the John Cooper name in the form of a Countryman.

The Jaguar XF Sportbrake looks like a car that was always a part of the model range. A diesel S model would do me nicely.

On the RUF stand there is an original, green 911 3-litre turbo. It has an RS 3.0 front chin and rear spoiler. If I was offered one car to take home from the show I would ask for the keys.

Chris

[TheBigUnit]

That Porsche is something else, but for real world I think Jag might be on to a winner with the Sportbrake.

[ian_touring]

+1 for the lovely Porsche.
That M3 DTM looks ace too. The Bentley looks like a confused fantasy between Victoria Beckham and Ali G.

[Polariz]

I rather like the Merc actually.

[Alx323]

Liking the A-Class aswell, did someone say AMG...?

[Bucketeer]

I've got a feeling the A Class could look hideous in base model spec with normal sized wheels and less body-kittage. It seems nowadays bodywork is designed to look 'right' firstly for the top of the range model and screw any pauper who can only shell out for the 1.6L/1.0 Merit/Ecocheap versions with skinnier wheels and less jewellery.

[turbo-ww]

Alx323 said:

Liking the A-Class aswell, did someone say AMG...?

Initially I thought that was a Volvo....

[Draexin]

The XF Sportbrake...

[pacman1]

Harris said:

If Mr Crazy Shoes is a fan, Bentley has done its job.

Utter, utter bks. Talk about pissing a timeless car marque up against the wall..

Edited by pacman1 on Tuesday 6th March 21:50

[pSyCoSiS]

That Bentley looks absolutely hideous.

What is their design team thinking?!

I agree with Mr Harris - the Porka for me too, please!

[Hellbound]

Will there be a 2 door A class?

[Repent]

Not normally one for 'compare new car to generic looking car already on market' posts, but the Merc really does look like a far less inspired Volvo-Corsa love child. It should outsell the previous A's though.

Looks like its been an decent show though, everything youve mentioned there is genuinely interesting/PH worthy metal, not just more boring hybrid tech willy waving. Bar the Exp whatever it is, which whilst I completely see its relevance to the few, its a travesty to the rest of us .

Edited by Repent on Tuesday 6th March 22:47

[CliveM]

God it's depressing seeing what new Bentleys look like now - I always used to be able to see the idea, even if I didn't actually like the car. The new ones (GTC aside) just look absurd (and not in a good way, like teak decking on an Azure etc).

[davepoth]

pacman1 said:

Utter, utter bks. Talk about pissing a timeless car marque up against the wall..

Edited by pacman1 on Tuesday 6th March 21:50

For 80 years, they've been selling chintzy tat to people who wanted something a bit less "old man" than a Rolls Royce. So what's different?

[TheBigUnit]

pacman1 said:

Utter, utter bks. Talk about pissing a timeless car marque up against the wall..
]

Every car company has to make a profit and Bentley is no different. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer, but they don't develop any more taste while they are at it. If it means Bentley stay in production and continue to make cars that go and sound like the new V8 GT then good luck to them. And while I don't like the SUV, I don't think it's any worse than the Eterneti Haemorrhoid, the Dartz Prombron or the Kubang, all of which have been conceived to appeal to the same market that the Bentley will.

[MJRL]

Once again the classic beats all the new bling in the looks dept, that porsche is beautiful and I'm no porsche man, I have to agree with Mr.Harris here.

Of all the pictures I have seen of cars at Geneva so far that was like a punch in the chest, it makes the Berlinetta look positively 'Meh'

I think the Lambo would be Hilarious, I would love to drive it.

[cragswinter]

i'm absolutely stunned by the new boxster, i mean i liked the old one-in particular the spyder but even with the leaked shots i never thought the new one would look so good.

although a porsche fan through & through you have to say that stunning appearances are hardly their strong point, not like other desirable manufacturers but this new boxster-well i can't think of a prettier porsche since the 904 carrera

[garypotter]

Is that a Mitsubishi Lancer front end on the A class! even so a good job done with the new A class

[anonymous-user]

Am I the only one that thinks that a lot of loyal buyers will be pissed off with the new A-Class? It used to be a mold breaker now its a Golf/A3/1-Series clone!

[Nitro666]

That Ruff 911 Turbo has just parked up in my fantasy garage...

[lazyitus]

Nitro666 said:

That Ruff 911 Turbo has just parked up in my fantasy garage...

Not just me then.

And nice to see B.M. are going to be mixing it on track again in Germany etc.