RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
Detroit's show this year was more global than ever. It was also pretty relevant. The new production metal was mostly the sort you could relate to without too much explanation, and the concepts were attractive but not too fanciful.
Toyota-Lexus had a great show. At last there's concrete evidence of what company chief Akio Toyoda and his engineers have been promising for a while. They want to make cars that are more than appliances: cars people actually yearn for.
The Toyota FT-1 looks great, and more important it shows how the company is developing a distinctive design voice for all its cars. But if there's a production spin-off (big if) it's a way away. Lexus, as shown by the RC-F, is a few years ahead of the parent company in getting its design distinctive. And the RC-F should be a bit of an event to drive as well as to look at - behind those rapier headlights it comes with natural aspiration.
Not such a happy show for VW-Audi. VW has earmarked growth in the US as crucial for its world-domination plan, and is making a special local Passat. But it actually slipped backward in sales last year. The dealers need the new big crossover, and it's still a couple of years away. The Dune Beetle was just dressing for a bare window.
And the Audi Shooting Brake concept? Hmm, well under there is the new TT. I could only see three or four years of foot-dragging progress since the last TT, not the eight summers that have actually passed. Mind you, the dash and its interfaces are cleverly updated.
Over at Porsche, the 911 Targa is a fun riff on the original's Targa design. But good grief what a bag of unnecessary weight and complication its power roof is. Why didn't they just top-hinge that rear window and have you use your own muscles to pack away the lightweight magnesium roof panel. This feverish complication smells of the Honda CRX Del Sol all over again.
Better news from the Germans when Mercedes unveiled the new C-Class, a great-looking car with interior quality and technology that blew people away. For BMW too it was a decent show, with the M3, M4, 2-series and 4-cabrio all on their first public outings.
Written By:- Paul Horrell
More of this article on the Top gear website