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.

[TheBigUnit]

pacman1 said:

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