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Second media day at Geneva is, relatively, a slightly more relaxed affair and a chance to - shocker! - actually go and look at some cars. That's the plan anyway.
My final sweep around the show yesterday was productive though. Matt and I managed to cross the rope and gain admittance to the Ferrari stand, where we were briefed on the turbo V8 for the 488 GTB by the UK PR man. He shared with us an interesting stat, based on the time the engine takes at full throttle in third gear to go from 2,000rpm to maximum longitudinal acceleration - roughly equivalent to maximum torque apparently. In a 458 he says this takes 0.7 seconds, against a claimed 2.1 in a McLaren 650S. For the 488 GTB it's 0.8 seconds. Obviously this is straight from the (prancing) horse's mouth and a favourable measurement clearly not plucked out of thin air. But does suggest the 488 will be sufficiently feisty on the throttle. Honour dictates I should stop by McLaren today and see what they can come back with...
From Ferrari we visited the Glickenhaus stand and I hovered as McLaren boss Mike Flewitt and chief designer Frank Stephenson chatted with Jim Glickenhaus himself about the Competizione and Stradale versions of his stunning SCG003. I managed to grab a quick word with Jim and it turns out he's a big PH fan and known to post in the forums too. Which is pretty cool. More on the car shortly but two will be running at the N24 in May and the street car will follow later in the year.
I also stopped by Lotus to have a look at the Evora 400. Looks a lot better in the metal/GRP than the initial press photos suggested. But, by heck, a stand pretty much adjacent to Porsche's and within sight of the Cayman GT4 does rather underline the challenge it faces. Best of British to 'em and all that.
Staying with that I managed to track down the impressive launch vid Porsche used to accompany the unveiling of the Cayman GT4 and 911 GT3 RS - see it here on the PH YouTube channel. Resistance is futile, etc.
Oh, and the old grey Ruf in the lead pic? I just liked it!
Now. With Matt back at PHHQ and writing up a few stories I've got a photographic hit list to attend to. Suitably fuelled by tea on the JLR stand I think I'm ready for another lap of the show...
Being a slave to the press conference timetable is never a nice way to see a motor show; lots of standing around, fights over the headsets, a view of the back of someone's head as you try and make out what's going on and then a mad scrum for pictures as Chinese engineers choose that moment to spend half an hour photographing interior fixtures and fittings.
I'll make an exception for a new GT3 RS though!
Leaving myself some time I managed to duck under a tape and find a seat in the hallowed enclave right in front of the stage, where I enjoyed a decadent half an hour Tweeting and browsing the news from the show. As the hour neared the stand started filling up and I felt a little smug looking over my shoulder to see a jostling scrum the other side of the tape. Somehow I didn't get rumbled and when Dr Prof and Mrs Piech sat down in the row in front of me with VW boss Martin Winterkorn I realised I must have really bagged a good spot. Penny for their thoughts as they chatted ahead of the sheets coming off the RS.
I have to say too, even with the considerable hype and spy shots the sheer presence of the RS had me properly awestruck. The thing just looks angry. And no stupid stickers either - result! If I had to drive one off the stand and home it'd still be the Cayman though. I think.
Wandering back to my JLR base I bagged a few more snaps, including a surprisingly apologetic looking FAB G-Wagen. Now usually this would be a chance for some 'money can't buy taste' Geneva extravagance. But compared with the 'official' G500 squared it looked almost modest. Same couldn't be said for Mansory's camo'd effort though. That or the Kahn Flying Huntsman? Hmm, decisions decisions.
My snapping hitlist included the Ferrari 488 GTB - hardly dainty - and the Aston Martin stand. The DBX is ... well ... it's not as nice as the Vantage GT3. The Vulcan looks wicked though. And if that's Aston's way of breaking out of the stranglehold of its current styling language all power to 'em.
Duty calls - I've got a chat with JLR's Special Vehicle Operations boss John Edwards. Wonder what he makes of the Flying Huntsman...
I hate running. But it's better than Geneva traffic. Or, specifically, Geneva traffic lights, which stay red for about an hour, making even a five-block journey an epic. And so it was that I arrived at the VW group preview night a little hot and flustered. But at least in time.
Held in a standalone exhibition hall and a feature of the big motor shows, VW night is a useful pre-event sharpener and chance to get a first look at a decent wedge of the new cars. Format is simple - a catwalk style stage onto which car is driven, respective brand boss gets a minute to talk about it and then, bang, next one. Basically you've got to be quick.
I held my hopes up for the GT3 RS when Porsche burst onto the stage. If it's possible to feel let down by the sight of a Cayman GT4 I was that man. Porsche boss Matthias Muller introduced it as a crossbreed between a 911 GT3 and a Cayman GTS but didn't say a whole lot more, merely that the GT family would grow. So that's the Porsche press conference on the hitlist for the day. I did manage to grab a quick word with Muller about Cayman production numbers and he said it's not a limited run as such and the only cap on numbers will be capacity. Hope then for anyone who's waiting on an order. Possibly dashed by the next Porsche man I spoke with, who admitted they may have been a little pessimistic in their forecasting. Peckish, I was then somewhat dismayed when Wolfgang Hatz swooped in and nicked the final portion of currywurst from a passing waitress. Verdammt!
Entrance of the night always goes to Lambo boss Stephan Winkelmann, the Aventador SuperVeloce arriving in a blaze of noise and dry ice and our man elegantly sliding out from beneath its scissor door without a crease in his immaculate suit or hair out of place on his coiffed barnet. I place great significance on Winklemann's shoes as an arbiter of where Lamborghini is going too; traditionally he favoured a pointy one, since the Huracan it's been brogues. Read into that what you will. Against the SV even in bright orange R8 V10 Plus looked a little apologetic.
The only true surprise on the night was the Bentley EXP10 Speed 6, details of which you can read here. It's a smart looking thing and I look forward to getting a closer view on the stand today. No Bentayga either, the SUV getting nothing but a passing mention.
Oh, and I guess this VW night was significant for one thing - the last Veyron. The one-off Bugatti special edition has been a standing feature of every VW night I think I've ever attended but, Wolfgang Durheimer confirmed, this really was the last one. Ever. Ever. Before saying the W16 would live on in a new model.
From there I enjoyed a more relaxed stroll back along the bank of Lake Geneva, the only interruption being catching up on a number of increasingly desperate phone messages from Kahn's PR man. Apparently we kind of blew their big debut for the Flying Huntsman by grabbing some snaps yesterday. Oops. Should have left the sheet on it chaps...
I like to be organised ahead of a motor, diligently printing out all my passes and paperwork ahead of the event so when I get to the front door and am asked for my press pass I always ... wait a minute, where's my ruddy press pass? Eventually I made it in, arriving in a show very much work in progress with wiring being laid, carpets being unrolled and exhibits and hoardings being hoisted into place.
I think this is my first time in the Geneva show actually ahead of the main press day, my host Jaguar Land Rover holding a pre-show press conference this afternoon. Eventually in the show I entered via the 'upper' hall surrounded by the big players like VW, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, GM and others that within has smaller stands from Pagani, FAB and various others. Already late for JLR I inevitably got distracted, spotting a bit of Lotus Evora 400 poking out coyly from under a sheet, tripping over a half unrolled carpet as I passed Pagani and then getting properly stopped in my tracks by the GlickenhausSCG003. This thing is an absolute stunner and has potentially solved my tricky car of the show conundrum before the official press day has even started.
Premature? Just look at the thing. Restraint is exactly the word for it ... competent sounds like damning with faint praise ... dammit, it just looks stunning. Compact, aggressive but properly engineered. This is not some five-year-old's 'my first supercar' sketchbook doodling or gold plated Geneva excess. Can't wait to see the race version in action either.
En route to JLR I nearly got taken out by a crane installing stuff at Toyota, spotted the Radical Satsuma Castanet (sorry, RXC Turbo 500) uncovered, saw the Focus RS (ace) and an immaculate Escort Mexico at Ford and was tempted to rip the cover off the Ferrari 488 GTB but thought better of it.
Not a bad early round-up given press day hasn't even begun yet!
Next stop: VW night, and chance to offer thanks and praise to Dr Piech and his lovely wife as is the tradition. Will this actually be the last time we see a one-off Veyron unveiled at one of these things too? Place your bets...
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