Paris Motor Show report

Our report has pictures of all the shiny new toys

By PH Staff / Monday, 27 September 2004 / Loading comments

Sebastian Geisler reports from the "Mondial de l'Automobile" in Paris

At this year's biannual Paris International Motor Show (Mondial de l' Automobile) which alternates the IAA at Frankfurt / Main in Germany, over 480 exhibitors from 26 countries are present with more than 60 world premieres.

Concept cars

As with most such shows, tradition has it that manufacturers (particularly the French) use Paris as a place to present concept cars, which will never make it to the road.

The latest concept car from Renault is the Fluence, a four-seater sports coupé. The front-mounted V6 3.5 litre engine comes from Nissan and develops 280 bhp with a torque of 269 lb/ft. This car could be a serious rival for the Nissan 350Z, the Audi TT, the Chrysler Crossfire and a few others, but Renault has not yet disclosed any information regarding production.

With the 907, Peugeot presents the GT Coupé, powered by a 6.0 litre V12 with 500 bhp. The structure consists principally of a carbon-fibre shell with a kerb weight of around 1,400 kg. Mass production is not planned so far, but maybe some of those details will find their way into the 407 Coupé.

Mercedes is showing two concept cars, the Grand Sports Tourer "Vision R" and Compact Sports Tourer "Vision B". Both cars will only change in details and go into production within the next year. The B class is about 43 cm longer than the A class and will constitute a bridge across the A and C class. The R is a 4+2 and offers a mix between the S class and M class. The show car is powered by a newly developed V6 CDI diesel power unit with an output of 218 bhp.

8C Competizione is the new Alfa Romeo concept car. As stated in its name, the GT Coupé is powered by a V8 engine which allows a top speed of more than 186 mph.

Audi presented the RSQ, a concept car starred alongside Will Smith in the film "I Robot". Set in the year 2035, the RSQ has a Jet cockpit and spheres replace wheels -- could this be the car of the future?

Sports cars

Nothing new from Bugatti, the Veyron has already been presented. The supercar is now in its final development phase and will go into production in the summer of 2005.

BMW presents us with the new M5, as the delivery of the 507 bhp dream car is about to begin early 2005.

Chrysler celebrates its 80th birthday with the presentation of the Crossfire SRT6, which will be available as coupé and roadster. SRT stands for "Street and Racing Technology" and Chrysler want to establish these three letters as similar to the "M" in BMW or Audi's "RS". The top speed of the SRT6, powered by a 330 bhp V6 supercharged engine, is electronically limited to 155 mph.

With the F430, Ferrari unveiled its evolution of the 360 Modena. The design derives from the Enzo and at its core is the tweaked V8 offering 490 bhp.

Already presented at the Geneva Show 2004, the Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster is now ready to go into production. Powered by the same 580 bhp V12 engine as the coupé, lap times for the two versions at the Nürburgring -- Nordschleife have been more or less identical.

One year after the presentation of the concept car at Frankfurt the Mercedes Benz CLS will now go into production. Mercedes presents the car in three different versions : CLS 350, CLS 500 and CLS 55 AMG. The CLS 55 is powered by the refined 5.5-litre AMG V8 compressor engine which generates 476 bhp and 516 lb/ft of torque. This gives it truly stunning performances: The CLS 55 AMG accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds, while its top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

The new Boxster made its world premiere. The modified roadster is available with two different engines, developing 240 bhp and 280 bhp. As with the 997, a sport-chrono package with a stop watch on the top of the dashboard is now available. Safety is improved and it's the first ever roadster with window airbags, says Porsche. Porsche was also showing the new 911 (997), but still only the Carrera and Carrera S models; for the new Cabrio and Turbo we have still to wait.

Venturi presents the Fétish for the second time in Paris, the car has been modified and is still a prototype, but Venturi owner Gildo Pallanca Pastor is optimistic that the production can start next summer. The Fétish is the first production electric sports car in automobile history. With a monocoque carbon chassis the vehicle weighs a mere 750 Kg without batteries, and 1,100 Kg with batteries. The Fétish offers 350 km of autonomy and accelerates from 0-62 mph in under five seconds. Pastor wants to sell 25 cars a year at a price of 540,000 euros, including VAT (about £368,000).

Beside the Roadster and the Zonda, Pagani shows the Zonda Monza. The Pagani Zonda Monza has been built for a customer in America, the AMG-Mercedes engine, develops 650 bhp, up from 600 bhp. The car is designed for track use only; after removing air-conditioning and other details, weight has been reduced by about 150 kg.

Also powered by a Mercedes engine with 600 bhp is the Laraki

Fulgura. Laraki is a company from Casablanca (Morocco). The price of the Fulgura will be around 400,000 euro (about £272,000).

PGO Automobiles have been producing the PGO Speedster II for a year now, a speedster with the design of the Porsche 356, but with modern production methods and materials from Peugeot. Only a 140 bhp engine has been available, now a 180 bhp engine can also be provided, prices starting at about 30,000 euro (about £20,400).

Compact cars

After the R5 turbo, Sport Spider and Clio V6, Renault presents its newest mid-engined model, the Mégane Trophy V6, which is faster with its 3.5 litre V6 engine generating 320 bhp. The production of this Mégane will start early next year at a price of less than 100,000 euro excluding VAT (about £68,000). The car is for track use only and will be taking part next year in a European single-series championship organised by Renault Sport.

With the advent of the Mini Convertible this summer, all Minis got a facelift. Details of the Mini Cooper S engine have been changed, so that tuning specialist John Cooper Works also has to modify his engine upgrade, the new JCW kit (210 bhp) improves with a new supercharger and new cylinder head. Moreover John Cooper has enlarged its options with carbon parts and a modified suspension.

Opel unveiled the Astr

a GTC concept car with a 240 bhp 2-litre turbo engine. At the moment the top motorisation of the Astra is a 200 bhp engine, but GM reckons that future production of this Astra concept car is on the cards.

Volkswagen is showing the new Golf GTI with its 200 bhp FSI engine, already presented last year at Frankfurt as a concept car. The first cars will be delivered to the customers next month. The Touareg W12 includes the famous W12 6.0 litre engine (as featured on the Phaeton), which produces 450 bhp and allows a top speed of 155 mph.

Despite the increasing prices of petrol, high powered SUVs are still, sadly, popular. Volvo XC90 V8 is Volvo's first ever V8-powered machine. The motor produces 315 bhp and a torque of 325 lb/ft at 3,900 rpm. From early 2005, Volvo plans to sell 15,000 XC90 V8 a year, most of them in America.

The Paris International Motor Show is open until 10 October 2004 at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles. The organisers expect more than 1.5 million visitors.

We'll be following up with more pictures tomorrow.