Of all the European motor shows, Geneva is the one most heavily attended by the tuning fraternity, whose stands feature some weird - and occasionally even wonderful - creations. And each year one particular model seems to get singled out for attention.
Last year seemed to be the turn of the Porsche Panamera, or possibly the Mercedes SLS, but in 2012 it's all about the McLaren MP4-12C, with at least four versions on show created by various tuning companies and displaying various degrees of wrongness...
Mansory is not usually given to tasteful discretion with its creations, but the initial renderings we showed you a little while back didn't seem to be as horrific as
some of its
previous creations
Under the bright lights of the show, however,
theMansory-ised MP4-12C
with its wide-boy bodykit and gaudy paintwork just looked wrong, at odds with McLaren's ethos of subtle, understated engineering excellence.
If you want a car like this, then it's probably better not to go for a McLaren in the first place - Mansory's take on the Lamborghini Aventador proving an excellent example of a car that can take a bit of chintz on the chin, as it were...
If Mansory's MP4-12C was pretty extreme, then Gemballa's was subtle to the point of (dare we say it?) being nice. The idea, apparently, was to "imbue" the Gemballa GT with "the missing emotion" of the MP4-12C. Right...
The result is quite sensitive, though, with new bumpers, spoilers, skirts, a small wing and new, slightly larger wheels not proving too overwhelming.
Less subtle was Hamann's take on the McLaren Coupe, with its chunky bumpers, side skirts, big rear wing and roof-mounted air scoop. Hmmm....
These Swiss tuners are not usually paragons of good taste, but their McLaren MP4-12C Terso is quite restrained (for FAB Design), giving the Macca and Aventador-esque look. Things to note? That rear wing is a bolt-on job, there's a tiny 'spoiler' at the leading edge of the windscreen, and only five Tersos will be made.
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