2009 Geneva Motor Show report and slideshow

Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

Tomorrow the Palexpo exhibition center will open its doors for the first of eleven public days of the 2009 edition of the Geneva Motor Show. During the past two days the gathered media was treated to an exclusive preview of all the (new) cars on display. Despite the grim economic situation all major and a vast majority of the specialty manufacturers have set up shop in Geneva to show their latest wares. And they had plenty of exciting machinery to display again this year. What was different was the general atmosphere and the more modestly appointed stands, both a clear result of the difficult times.
For us car enthusiasts there were more than a handful of new releases to marvel about ranging from hot-hatches from Alfa Romeo and Mazda to all out supercars from Italian experts Lamborghini and Pagani. Additionally there were many smart small cars that should be plenty of fun to drive and also friendly to the environment. Hopefully the economic problems will be over real soon, so we can see many of these on the roads.
As always our reporters were on the showfloor for two days to soak up all the news at the world's most prestigious motor show. All our work has resulted in a brief report and an exclusive 280-shot slideshow, which includes all of the highlights. In the following days we will take a look at all of the new cars individually.

[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/event/207/2009-Geneva-International-Motorshow.html]Geneva Motor Show report and slideshow[/url]

Regards,
Wouter Melissen

Wouter the zip files for all the images isn't working at the moment, could you fix that? :)
thanks for the report btw!

EDIT: first comments, awesome show I must say.
I don't like the wedge look of the LP670, it's becoming a little too much and without a theme behind it as it happened with the Reventòn. I'm pretty curious to know how much the 599XX is going to cost, just wondering how much customers are willing to pay for another track toy from Maranello.
The guys over GUmpert confirmed they don't know a thing about aesthetic, but the car seems as fast as they promised.
I was expecting something more "fashion" oriented from Infiniti and LV, but the car looks quite good, and I wouldn't mind a japanese contender to the GranTurismo, just to compare such different cultures in another theme which isn't the super fast hyper car.
The Citroen DS fails to impress me, and I didn't like the presence of the [I]old[/I] GT concept, as if they knew they were going to have a low profile stand.
A brave move from Pagani to shot both of his [I]new[/I] cars in one show, even if autoblog reported a couple of weeks ago that the Cinque was going to be only an F painted in Cinque trim (it doesn't seem to be so).
Spyker did a great jow refreshing the C8 in the definitive version of the Aileron (much mroe interesting than the concept), even if I'm still waiting for the only SUV I ever liked, the D8/D12.
Fioravanti stupefied me with another Formula 1 derived car but which looks much more modern, futuristic and insane than the other products from Caparo and others. wouldn't mind a racing series for those cars, wondering if the downforce isn't going to be an issue.
Opel corrects the Volt project in a more interesting looking car, after the perennial controversy saying hybrid or [I]green [/I]cars aren't supposed to be understated or even bad looking as a mandatory fact.
Fiat again failed to present the new 2 cylinder engine, but I'm glad the GTA is back again, even if the look of the MiTo now resembles that of a Pokemon, as IB4R pointed out.

While there are a few things I really liked (RR 200EX, Lambo SV), for the most part I was amazed how many horribly ugly cars there were; I'm looking at Lagonda and Gumpert.

[QUOTE=NicFromLA;872961]While there are a few things I really liked (RR 200EX, Lambo SV), for the most part I was amazed how many horribly ugly cars there were; I'm looking at Lagonda and Gumpert.[/QUOTE]

i thought the gumpert looked a bit better in the 2 tone paint.

Infiniti Essence is sexy! lots of nice stuff like the zonda and the 599

[url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/gallery.php?num=15239]Sbarro - Ultimatecarpage.com - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
What is the blue car in the background? It's proportions are spot on.
I agree with Leon, the Fioravanti is sublime.
EDIT:[QUOTE=Wouter Mellisen]Ferrari launched a new customer racing program this time based around the 599 GTB Fiorano road car. Starting next season, a select group of customers can race eachother in the 599XX. Powered by a 700 bhp V12 engine and equipped with a rather tacky body-kit, the track-day special will cost 1.1 million Euros. Hopefully no one will buy one so Ferrari can concentrate on building proper sports racing cars again. A win at say Le Mans will do so much more for the company in the long run than suckering 30 million Euro out of the pockets of their best customers.[/QUOTE]
An interesting observation, and the more I think about it, the more I agree.
Splendid work. Hope you and Henk had fun.

Thanks for your hard work.

[QUOTE=cmcpokey;872970]i thought the gumpert looked a bit better in the 2 tone paint.[/QUOTE]

That's like saying the Elephant Man looks better wearing a giant foam cowboy hat - you're distracted from how ugly he is, but he's still ugly.

[QUOTE=LeonOfTheDead;872883]Wouter the zip files for all the images isn't working at the moment, could you fix that? :)[/QUOTE]

Apologies for the problems. I had to change some settings but it seems to be working again now.

[QUOTE=f6fhellcat13;873013][url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/gallery.php?num=15239]Sbarro - Ultimatecarpage.com - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]
What is the blue car in the background? It's proportions are spot on.
I agree with Leon, the Fioravanti is sublime.
EDIT:
An interesting observation, and the more I think about it, the more I agree.
Splendid work. Hope you and Henk had fun.[/QUOTE]

the blue car is probably another concept from Sbarro, seems pretty similar to the Lola T70.

about Ferrari, you just said, it's just a quick and easy way to gain 30 millions, the same was for the FXX and the Sessanta.
Winning a Le Mans would be simply awesome, but much more expensive than doing these cars, let alone difficult.
I don't know, I'm fine with Ferrari, as Aston Martin, continuously revealing new versions and models, they keep the super ultra luxurious part of the market pretty alive, but at the same time this "*XX" cars aren't really something to be exited about.
even a smaller company could produced a track car even extremer than these, but no one would buy it just because it isn't a Ferrari (and Ferrari absolutely knows this, they do).

[QUOTE=Wouter Melissen;873060]Apologies for the problems. I had to change some settings but it seems to be working again now.[/QUOTE]

I have another 60+ Mb zip file on my desktop saying that, yeah, it's working now, thanks. :)