GENEVA REVIEW

The location feels like holiday. Surrounded by the decorum of the Alps, this is the place to touch base with the automotive circus at the beginning of the season. The Geneva auto salon is still my favorite show to visit. Compact and complete. A kaleidoscopic view on the industry. The Germans, Italians and French meet at neutral ground. This year I teamed up with a group of colleagues from Ingolstadt. After a long drive we hit the floor at 3 P.M. It is thursday and busy. Hell yes do I miss the press days ambiance where one can run into Eddie Jordan talking to Briatore, dolls included.

 

We have four, five intensive hours ahead of us to work the floor. Of course we start at the Audi stand where the next big thing is small. The A1 looks great in the flesh. Good stance and proportions combined with well executed details. After a couple of cars the group of designers thins down. Too much to see and too many details to be photographed. Johannes and I are on a trip, diving from one interior into the next, fiddling around with knobs, discussing grains and finishings. Eyes focused onto details and at the same time trying to grasp the big picture.

 

There is definitely a return to color. Cool and neutral tints still work, but there is more at the horizon. Even more then last year cars are colored in bronze and orange tones and pink-ish shades are on the rise. One of my highlights is turning around at the Citroen stand. The French have reworked their last years Revolte into a sleek sportster. It might be overloaded with funky details and coloring, but one can see the joy of surfacing. Many agree, this could be a small Bugatti. Very Veryonesque indeed.

 

Another well executed prototype is being displayed at Pininfarina. The red Alfa Duetto Something returns to simplicity in shape, but in a very dynamic way. The front to back bonelines remind me of the famous Disco Volante. Personally I think this is the answer to the over the top emotionalized sketch to metal approach we have seen lately.

 

The fair is about to be shut down for today. My camera still has some space left for more impressions, but my head starts to tickle. After check in we head down town for some genuine fondue. I probably have missed one or more things, but I rely on the fact that my CFX buddies were here at prime time. Next time we will hit as a pack, once again. 

 

 

Comments

[Steve]

Nice color combos like always Matt.
Especially like the Brown's
Maybe I can add a few more at the weekend?
By the way, did you notice Audi presented the A1's with wheel spacers, good stance
yes, but sneaky!

[Geert]

...and with a bit of luck Tjerk will add some pzazz with a babe compo? Those lil' red boots do look a bit lonesome in square 1.

Als always - the longeish anticipation was well worth waiting for Matty! Like the subtle shift in format with the tweaked Survolt backdrops. Simple yet efficient - and does justice to the otherwise slightly too bland grey colorscape of the compo. Still struggling with the true authenticity of that car (it IS a scaled down Veyron), but am excited about the deconstructive, layered body shells theme really pushing through (BMW's IAA Vision ED, Opel, Bertone Pandion...). I guess the Veyron was also in that respect ahead of its time, albeit in a very modest way (front hood to fender gaps).

[Rik]

Full marks for rapidness! We were in Geneva earlier than you were, but have failed dramatically. I have to apologize for the comment on the former posting; you're still a hero in my book (and anybody else's)!