NO matter how hard the environmental lobby tries the global motor industry, and its customers, show no sign of falling out with sports cars. Geneva revealed new performance models to suit a range of pockets.
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| Yes it's an Aston Martin, and yes it has four doors. The Rapide is a concept, but will go into production next year. Aston Martin boss Ulrich Bez reputedly had the idea more than 15 years ago when he worked for Porsche. The Germans said no thanks so Bez went to Aston. Three years after the Rapide goes on sale it will face a new rival, the four-door Panamera, a car to be made by Porsche... | This mean looking saloon is, believe it or not, the successor to Mitsubishi's much renowned Evo series of roadgoing rally cars. Like its predecessor it's based around the mainstream Lancer model, the all-new version of which arrives in British showrooms in the summer. The Evo 10 will go on sale a year or so later, and will of course be an all-wheel-drive power-packer. | The fact that this car was red and wore a prancing horse badge was enough to make it a must-see for many. The new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano is the most powerful front-engined production car to emerge from the revered Maranello works yet. The V12 engine is of almost six litres and offers 620 horsepower. Sales will start in the summer and you could likely have one of these for around £160,000... |
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Not all sports cars on offer are only for the very rich. Honda's latest radical Civic has not at all suprisingly spawned the new Type-R, and the sci-fi lines of the mainstream three-door Civic (which also debuted at Geneva) certainly suit the performance version. We're promised 200bhp from its 2-litre engine, but we will be waiting around a year for the car to hit showrooms. |
Back to megabucks models, and there is always something attractive at Lamborghini. This year that included a modern recreation of the Miura, one of Lambo's most famous cars launched in 1966. It could become production reality, its makers hoping to the same mind-set as Ford's GT. I preferred this however, the revamped Murcielago, and not just due to the 'accessories'... |
More mature Lotus fans may find difficulty accepting that this new model is being dubbed the Europa - the name commemorating the original launched 40 years ago. It's a mid-engined 2+2 coupe, and Lotus hopes it will boost sales of the Norfolk manufacturer by drawing in customers who might previously have bought cars such as Audi's TT or the Porsche Boxster. |
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| Rivalling the Civic Type-R will be this, the Mazda 3 MPS. A slip of the tongue by a Japanese engineer enabled me to tell you about the hot hatch last June, many months before the motoring 'comics'. Sales start late this year. | Also making its most powerful production car yet is Porsche with this, the all-new 911 Turbo, its boot boasting a 3.6-litre engine of 480bhp - that's some 60 horses more than its predecessor offered... | And finally... Maker of the most exotic cars, Pagani, has replaced the roof of its Zonda coupe with a removable carbonfibre version to create the Zonda Roadster. Its Mercedes 7.3-litre V12 motor has some 594bhp on tap. |