Wednesday 14th September 2005

Joys to behold from Frankfurt show

Including Porsche, Aston, Jaguar, Alpina and Fenomenon

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Cars snapped at Frankfurt by our roving reporter Sebastian Geisler include:

Porsche Cayman - first sight

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Jaguar XK

 

BMW Alpina B6 convertible

Engine is a 4.4-litre V8 making 500bhp, torque 516lb-ft at 4,250 rpm, top speed 194mph and 0 - 62mph in 4.9 seconds. The price isn't calculated yet but expect it to be €122,000-130,000 (about £82,2000-87,500).

Stratos Fenomenon

Prodrive is about to carry out a feasibility study to get the car closer to production status, focusing on engineering and technical development, which will take about three to four months. This concept is how the car will look when it's cooked. The plan is to build about 50 cars a year, with Prodrive shouldering the bulk of the load.

Rinspeed Indy

Based on the Porsche 997 Carrera S and finished in white metallic, tweaks include a Rinspeed exhaust manifold system with special catalyst and sports silencer, Rinspeed brake system, aerodynamic body kit, sport suspension, sport seats (no rear seats), steering wheel with an F1 look, and Rinspeed 19-inch wheels.the price tag is €125,800 (about £84,700).

AC Schnitzer Tension

A concept car based on the BMW M6, it adds an optimised engine management system, exhaust manifold system with special catalyst, sports rear silencer. It makes 552bhp, maximum torque of 398lb-ft at 6,200 rpm, with a top speed 203mph and a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds. Additional hardware includes a modified braking system with 8-pot caliper with slotted and 374mm vented disks at the front and a 4-pot caliper at the rear. Wheels are 20-inchers all round using adjustable racing suspension that lowers the car by 30mm and modified spring and damper rates. There's an aero kit and the body is widened.

AC Schnitzer said it had no plans for series production. This might be one of those acquired taste kind of cars...

 

Arden Speedster

And finally Jochen Arden, a German tuning company for Jaguar and Range Rover, has announced the Arden Speedster AJ20, to launched next year.

[mk1fan]

I really like the Cayman. And of course the AM is georgous.

[L100NYY]

Is it my eyes playing tricks or has that Rinspeed 997 got 'scissor doors'?

It is though!

[chrisjl]

L100NYY said:

Is it my eyes playing tricks or has that Rinspeed 997 got 'scissor doors'?

An out-and-up semi-scissor, rather than a Lambo-esque straight up scissor, yes.

[r988]

The Cayman looks a bit weird, but I suspect it will grow on me, so I'll give it some time to sink in, still suffers from the 'which end is the front?' problem of the boxster though.

The AMV8 Looks great, even a blind could see that

The XK8 looks better than the last time I saw it.

The Alpina B6 actually looks damn good, in some ways the 6er works better as a convertable.

That Stratos thing looks a bit werid from the front but not bad fron the back.

Rinspeed Indy looks very good, I feel like just taking it out on a track and flogging the life out of it.

AC Schnitzer Tension also looks quite good, that black stripe is a novel way of disguising some of the 6ers worst styling sins.

[fosse]

The article said
'AC Schnitzer said it had no plans for series production. This might be one of those acquired taste kind of cars...'

how do you acquire a taste for that? maybe you buy some funny looking little pills from that dodgy bloke on the corner before you look at it?
Or maybe you just have your corneas removed?

[robdickinson]

Good job the XK8 and the AMV8 photo's are from slightly different angles...

[oastbloke]

Has Jaguar been sold to VW on the quiet? The XK's rear lights look to me the spitting image of Sharan and co...

[pesty]

ooohh that Rinspeed Indy is gorgous

[potatoboy666]

i like the rinspeed as well

the only thing that bothers me is the AMV8 and the XKR are in silver, come on silver has got to be the most boring colour. someone in my area has a lamborghini gallardo in silver its still great lookin but doesnt really stand out, i saw a murcialago in orange stood out like anything but was gorgeous

[wedgepilot]

Arrghh, my retinas have just burst looking at the AC Schnitzer Tension!!

The Stratos looks great though, a nice update to a classic design.

[htsd]

oastbloke said:

Has Jaguar been sold to VW on the quiet? The XK's rear lights look to me the spitting image of Sharan and co...

The front looks startingly like one of those awful Ford Coupe things that I can't remember the name of- a Cougar or some silly thing. The headlights, the grille, all scream Ford America.

[silver993tt]

I thought there were 4 photos of the AMV8, had to take a double take to realise that 2 of them were of the XK8. How boring, look the same to me at first glance. Still, I suppose it's corporate branding that's taken over since AM and Jaguar don't exist anymore except for the name. These two look like big executive Ford's to me.

[Lutz]

Really love the caiman s back, but whz do the front of the 911, boxster and caiman have to look identical...shame, really...

[zoom_jones]

Jag lights look a bit Z4 like too.... borrowed styling a bit, not all that 'Jaguary'

[FestivAli]

My god the Stratos looks fantastic. What's the running gear, drive type and so on, is it still going to be a MR V6? Great, edgy looking car, and a decent modern interpretation. Looks small, and will hopefully be punchy. My type of car.

I don't really like the way Alpina styles BMW's. It's like their trying to be subtle, but the whole focus on lots of white lines, whether they be on the body or incorporated in the wheel design, doesn't really do anything for me. The question here is, if you're going to buy a BMW with a 500hp engine, do you go a delicious 5.0 V10 or a souped up (but still good) V8. I suppose until BMW do a convertible version of the M6 Alpina has a small, (comprimised in my view) niche.

Oh, and about the AC Schnitzer?

fosse said:

The article said 'AC Schnitzer said it had no plans for series production. This might be one of those acquired taste kind of cars...' how do you acquire a taste for that? maybe you buy some funny looking little pills from that dodgy bloke on the corner before you look at it? Or maybe you just have your corneas removed?

That's about what I thought too...

Ali

[henrycrun]

i expect the Gayman to be available in pink...

[Zod]

fosse said:

The article said 'AC Schnitzer said it had no plans for series production. This might be one of those acquired taste kind of cars...' how do you acquire a taste for that? maybe you buy some funny looking little pills from that dodgy bloke on the corner before you look at it? Or maybe you just have your corneas removed?

I have never understood AC Schnitzer. They seem to make a special effort to appeal only to super-rich chavs.