Paris 2016 - PH Liveblog
Ever wondered what cheese, watches, The Beatles and Land Rover have in common? Wonder no longer!
There are of course a host of ways to stay in touch via social media too. We're onFacebook and Twitter, plus Instagram @pistonheads_speedmatters. If you wish to follow the lads on their personal accounts you can do so through @Trent_Danand@PHMattB; we'll be using the hashtag #PHParis2016.
Consider my eyes opened to the world of expensive watches, one I realise excites a lot of people but had thus far entirely passed me by. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an overnight aficionado or woken up with a new burning passion for blingy timepieces. But I had underestimated quite how much passion the business inspires, not least in one of its figureheads, president of the LVMH watch division that owns Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith Jean-Claude Biver.
You want cheese? You got cheese!
Flailing around the stage in a speech that was part product presentation, part political rally and part religious sermon, Biver basically told us in making expensive watches for rich people he was doing god's work, even though he didn't believe in god. He did believe in love though. And the Beatles. And cheese. Cheese is nearly as big as watches in Biver's world and he makes 5,000kg of the stuff a year back home in Switzerland to be shared among only his most honoured friends and clients. Selling it would apparently devalue its magic. But he did bring 45kg of it to the event, a more modest quantity of which we munched in somewhat stunned silence while conceding it had, after all, turned out to be quite the night out.
Dan
As per a Tweet earlier I sometimes find Audi hard to understand. The 'new' Q5 is so indistinguishable from its predecessor as to be close to parody. But, at a corporate level, you get the impression Audi doesn't really do jokes.
Unless they really did drive the old one on stage by mistake of course.
Actual racing car does look absolutely incredible with its fat slicks bulging out of its box arch extensions, outrageous rear wing and plain gauge centre exhaust. OK, so the noise coming out of it won't be turbocharged five-cylinder warble (more's the pity) because TCR cars run four-cylinder engines. But, while we're on a roll with the Audi stereotypes, it's certainly got the kind of presence in the mirrors that'll have Golf and Leon driving rivals quivering in their race overalls. Yours for 99,000 euros plus VAT for the 'clubsport' version and 129,000 euros for the TCR spec with race sequential. Or about the same as that Cayman GT4 Clubsport I drove the other day.
Dan
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So, back 'home' after a quick whip around the show bagging pics and kicking the odd tyre along the way. Usually when you bump into other hacks or PRs chained to their own stands and curious about what else is going on the conversation turns to what's hot and what's not. But the main topic here seems less about the show and more about the no-shows.
No Bentley, no Aston Martin (seemingly off playing with speed boats in Monaco), no Lamborghini and none of the wild and wacky tuners that enliven both Geneva and even Frankfurt. No Lotus either but then Paris was the scene of *that* press conference a few years back and they probably want to stay well away. Relatively these are smaller brands and, if surprising, you can perhaps understand why they might not go to the bother if they don't have anything particular to show off. But no Ford, Mazda or Volvo? Mercedes apparently showing off its new GT Roadster away from the show and then not bringing it to the stand? Whether Paris is a particularly expensive show for them I don't know but from what I've heard about costs of attending Geneva I doubt it. There's certainly more space here. Maybe this is the first hint big brands aren't getting a return on the massive investment required in coming to these events and the end of the 'big' motor show as we know it. Curious...
Dan
The Clio RS16 has to be built. Has to be. Seeing it on the Renault stand, even in the presence of that Trezor, it looks fantastic. There's a really rally car feel to it, the stance spot-on and Liquid Yellow the perfect colour.
They seem fairly confident, so let's hope this brilliant little concept can be made. The current Clio Renault Sport is a very good hatch crying out for a better powertrain - as an RS16 it could be magnificent.
Matt
A quick pit stop for a suitably invigorating espresso (spotting a theme here?) and some exotic tyre kicking on the Ferrari stand. The Aperta and GTC4 Lusso T are cool but I'm also rather taken with the Tailor Made historic liveries inspired by the brand's 70th anniversary and famous road and race cars from this heritage. And if you're wondering who on earth could make a brown California sound cool just bear in mind the inspiration - some bloke called Steve McQueen apparently... The 488 GTB in 2003 Schumacher colours and the F12 in Rob Walker livery evoking the 250 SWB raced by Stirling Moss are also pretty cool.
Ferrari is also a pretty good place for people watching and general earwigging too. To that end Jean Todt has just casually walked onto the stand, seemingly having less trouble getting by 'the rope' than most...
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Dammit, I was just going to nip downstairs and get some further snaps of the Discovery but, rather inconveniently, they've put the sheets back on ahead of the press conference. Should've taken my camera to the tech thing shouldn't I... Here's a phone snap in the meantime, the photos from last night's event back in the UK fixating more on the celebs in attendance than the car itself.
I saw a Discovery 3 parked up on a Parisian street yesterday and, to me, the 'ugly' functionalism of its matt plastic arches and bumpers makes more sense in a driving environment like this and, indeed, of Discovery's supposedly fit for purpose image. I'd be happy in the cut and thrust of the traffic here in that, 'touch' parking and all. Less so in the glitzy looking new one. And that's a shame.
Dan
Kind of odd being in Paris for a motor show, given that about the least appropriate form of transport here would appear to be a motor vehicle. Last night I pedalled back from the Land Rover Discovery presentation on one of the Velib 'Boris Bike' rentals and that was far more efficient than the bus that took an hour to get me here this morning. I may well opt for that on the way home to blow out the show cobwebs!
We're a way off that though. As you'll see from the essential 'what I had for my breakfast' pic above I have the two things any hack requires for a motor show, which is to say a steady supply of coffee and working wireless. Both of these are to be found in - literally - my regular chair on the Jaguar Land Rover stand. I suspect the catering staff here are so familiar with my presence they half expect me to be unpacked with the rest of the furniture when they set up at the start of the show!
Suitably fuelled I have a photo hitlist to attend to though - that Honda looks like an Aventador SV in hot hatch form and I'm really rather keen to see if the AMG GT Roadster shapes up as well in the metal as it does in photos. Matt tells me the 'Aperta' LaFerrari is pretty stunning too but I'll need to brave the bunfight to get anywhere near that.
Dan
Despite the absence of a few big manufacturers, Paris 2016 still looks like being a fairly mammoth show. And nowhere is that more evident than at the German manufacturers, taking up huge swathes of space in their respective pavilions.
Mmm, grey
Yep, in a show firmly focused on future mobility, I'm drooling over V8 saloons. They looked great though, the Audi in Nardo Grey and the BMW in silver, tucked away on their respective stands as the attention moves towards electrification and autonomous drive. Probably depreciating already too. Cool cars.
And is it bad that I quite like the look of an R8 Spyder with white leather? Best get some proper breakfast in...
Matt
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