Wednesday 16th September 2015

Frankfurt 2015 - PH Liveblog

Bond and Bollinger as JLR's SVO division celebrates Spectre involvement ... PH does its duty

---

There's the news hub where all the Frankfurt 2015 stories can be found in one place; here is our more informal, personal perspective on the biggest show in the business and the place for reflection on the mad, bad or merely curious.

There are of course a host of ways to stay in touch via social media too. We're on Facebook and Twitter, plus Instagram @pistonheads_speedmatters. If you wish to follow the lads on their personal accounts you can do so through @Trent_Dan and@PHMattB; we'll be using the hashtag #PHFrankfurt2015. If you've missed anything, see here for archived updates.

Last update: Wednesday 1120h

---

God how we hacks love to moan about Frankfurt. Too big, too bewildering, too many cars, moan, moan, moan. There was a point last night, mid carping, where a group of us all had to stop, look at each other, recognise that we were all standing in a glamorous location surriounded by James Bond cars holding glasses of constantly replenished Bollinger and admit that, OK, sometimes it's not all bad.

With the business done at the show, the loop the loop successfully pulled off (though there were some seriously worried faces on the night) and the F-Pace seemingly pulling in plenty of favourable comments the JLR team seemed in mood to let off steam a bit.

In the courtyard at the venue we had three vehicles created by JLR's Special Vehicle Operations for Spectre and appearances from Naomie Harris and David Bautista, respectively Moneypenny and Hinx from the new film. Or, to put it another way (and now Bautista is out of earshot), beauty and the beast. He's a big lad for sure, and certainly a good match for an SVO Defender.

We got a bit of teaser footage of Bautista in the C-X75 chasing Daniel Craig's Aston Martin DB10 around Rome in one of the signature sequences of the film; another features the Defender and Range Rover Sport SVR in the snow being chased by an aeroplane. Wham, bang, thank you ma'am and all that - looks suitably exciting of course and SVO boss John Edwards is clearly happy for the way the film showcases what his division is capable of. Still seems tantalising they'd build a fleet of converted C-X75s, give them such prominent exposure and then ... not build a production version. But Edwards was adament that, while you could have a Defender or Sport a bit like those in the film, the supercar would remain a prop.

So much for a taste of glamour. It's back to business today and I'm in my spot on the JLR stand, typing away. I've just been down to Ford to shoot the Focus RS and, have to say, those stats (and the price) are pretty damned impressive. Then a surprise - the new Megane is actually quite interesting and worthy of a story. Which is my next job...

Dan

[Maldini35]

Lovely looking car the F-Pace

Shame about the naff PR stunts.
Where was Gabby Roselin?
Surely there must have been a hour's worth of live build up?

[jl34]

the ony thing naff is your comment, i think thats one of the most amazing launch stunts i have ever seen.

[andybu]

Wonder how many new F-Pace's the stunt driver damaged/wrote-off while practicing/rehearsing this.

That is a seriously impressive stunt; I was not expecting the second loop to be there at all.....

[Maldini35]

jl34 said:

the ony thing naff is your comment, i think thats one of the most amazing launch stunts i have ever seen.

Really?
I grant you that this was better than the anticlimactic 'car driving on wires' across the Thames stunt but it's all a bit Paul Daniels isn't it?
"Roll up, roll up, see a car do a loop the loop.... Tah Dah!....And for my next trick...." etc.

Jaguar is a premium brand and the cars are getting better and better - The F-Pace looks superb - but they deserve better than vacuous attention seeking.

Edited by Maldini35 on Tuesday 15th September 16:23

Edited by Maldini35 on Tuesday 15th September 17:15

[PhantomPH]

You've gotta laugh at how The Animal makes the RRS look like an Evoque. He's a big boy for sure.