New car news

06 October 2008 - 19:00

Paris: the best production stuff

There was, to use the scientifically-accurate measurement, a hell of a lot of stuff in Paris. Tons of shiny new metal, all over the place. Here’s the best of the production stuff:

Lamborghini Estoque: OK, OK, so it’s not quite production-ready yet, but it’s going to be built. Which is good enough for us. Monstrous, mad and massively desirable.

Chevrolet Volt: The hybrid that GM reckons might just save the planet. And its own backside. No pressure on the Volt, then…

Ford Ka: Ford trys to out-500 the Fiat 500. Which means lots of ‘bold personalisation options’ and ‘individual colour schemes’. Hmmm.

BMW X1: Like the Estoque, it’s not quite production ready. Unlike the Estoque, we’re not totally sure we want one. Are you any keener on BMW’s baby X?

McLaren-Mercedes SLR 722 Roadster: What better way to wave goodbye to your giant, daft supercar than a 650bhp convertible that’ll do 200mph with the roof down?

Renault Megane Coupe: Renault chops two doors off its new smaller-arsed hatch. New smaller-arsed hatch becomes instantly more desirable.

Citroen C3 Picasso: A mini-MPV that you might actually want to buy? Honestly. If we weren’t saving up for the Estoque, this is the sort of small sensible car we’d consider.

VW Golf GTi: Anyone else finding it just a touch difficult to get excited about the Mk6 Golf? Even the new GTi hasn’t really lit our fire. That rumoured V6 version might help, however…

Nissan Pixo and Suzuki Alto: Cheap, cheerful and entirely forgettable. We figured we ought to mention them, though, because they’re going to sell like pension protection plans.

Seat Exeo: Think of it as a last-generation Audi A4 for people who think a last-generation Audi A4 is a bit flash and overstated.

Lexus IS250 convertible: Lexus continues its all-out assault on the BMW 3-Series with a folding hard-top that’s not quite as good-looking as it thinks it is.

Now read about the best concepts in Paris.