Paris Show Aftermath - Carscoop's Top & Flop 10 List

There are some cars that managed to impress us and others that failed to do so -each one for its own reason. Maybe you might not agree with all our choices, but here's Carscoop's Top 10 & Flop 10 list with cars that left a good, a bad or even a mediocre impression on us.

Carscoop's Top 10

Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione : A rear wheel, V8 powered Alfa Romeo. That says it all, even if Alfa had to receive a "little" help from sister-Maserati to make it. Just looking at the 8c Competizione makes your heart melt from lust. Imagine driving it...

Audi R8 : Finally, after long series of concepts that remained in the cupboard (among others, the Avus & Spyder prototypes of the 90's), Audi managed to produce its first supercar ! An aluminum beauty on four wheels, the R8 looks like it sneaked its way out from an upcoming Steven Spielberg film. PS: The R8 looks so much better in real life than it does in the photos.

Citroen C4 Picasso : The French never cease to impress with their innovative designs. But don't be fooled by its futuristic looks, as this car features all the goodies that a typical soccer-mom dreams of: 7seats and all the practicality you can get. Let's just hope quality won't be an issue this time...

Ford Mondeo Wagon & Iosis-X Concepts : In Europe, while Ford has made a reputation for itself in the past few years for excellent driving dynamics, it has also made a reputation for its boring designs. While, the new-edge design practically started and ended with the first generation Focus, the Kinetic design theme seems to be doing quite well. Following the S-MAX, the Mondeo Wagon & Iosis-X Concepts prove that Ford is on the right road in terms of design.

Dodge Avenger : Most people I talked too at the show seemed to agree that the Avenger brings a breeze of fresh air in the European mid-size category with it's distinctive, macho styling that doesn't go overboard.

Kia pro_cee'd : A mainstream Kia with looks that make an Audi A3 seem conservative ? Yes, but hold your horses. Just take a look at what happened to pro_cee'd's 5door brother when it went into production... Will Kia make that mistake again?

Peugeot 908 RC : What a car. If your impressed by the 908 RC's looks in the pics, then you'll have a heart attack if you see it in person. Beautiful and distinctive. Pitty we won't ever see it go into production.

Peugeot 207 EPURE : Although it didn't manage to grab media attention, the 207 EPURE should start to worry the competition in the small Coupe-Cabrio category with its sleek looks.

Renault Nepta : My personal favorite of the show. Leaving aside its peculiar, gullwing doors, the Nepta is a car that in my book, should definitely find its way into production. Elegantly styled, it grabs your attention without using unnecessary design gimmicks. Like the Audi R8, the Nepta looks 10 time better in real life.

Volvo C30 : A worthy substitute for the 480 ES -only in terms of design, but without the front, pop-up lights. I have to add though that the tiny, and not at all practical, boot will make a lot of people to give it a second thought.

Carscoop's Flop 10

Chrysler Sebring : This car looks like it was designed by 10 different people. You can see a little bit of Passat in it, a little bit of Crossfire and God knows what else. Plus the quality of the interior plastics where a huge disappointment for a car that intends to compete with models like the VW Passat and Toyota Avensis.

Kia Cee'd : What happened to the impressive concept? A very conservative approach from Kia's part. On the other hand, the Koreans did a pretty good job in the interior that not only looks good, but also "feels" good.

Lancia Delta HPE : I swear, I tried my hardest to find out what this car is, but in the end I gave up. An Italian recipe consisting of MPV, crossover & hatchback elements mixed with a pint of sport, elegance and retro design themes, that looks like it all went wrong.

Pininfarina P4/5 : Although a lot of people seemed to be sucked into this one of a kind supercar, to me, the P4/5 looked like a huge piece of Lego...

Renault Koleos : Absolutely disappointing. You'd expect that an innovative company like Renault would surprise us, especially when it concerns a car that want's to compete in a category aiming at young customers.

Renault Twingo : Erase the huge rims and all the "concept wear" like the sporty bumpers from this image and we've got an uninspiring mini. Like the Koleos, I was waiting for something more unconventional from Renault.

Seat Altea XL : As if a the Toledo wasnt enough, Seat had to make things worse by presenting the XL. What happened to VW's theory of turning Seat into a worthy Alfa Romeo adversary?

Toyota Auris : Is it me or does Toyota's new hatch look like a Yaris that suddenly grew up ? Even as a concept, the Corolla successor looks boring. Can't understand why they wenty into all that fuss to change the name, there's nothing new here to justify it.

Toyota Yaris TS : Leaving aside the fact that the 134 hp TS will not be able to compete with the majority of small GTi's in Europe in terms of performance, it doesn't even have the looks to do it.

VW Iroc : A concept that looses points when seen in real life. It could easily be mistaken for being a prototype of the 6th generation Golf.

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Paris Show Aftermath - Femme Fatal Part 1

We all drooled over the sensuous lines of models like Alfa's 8c Competizione and Renault's Nepta but as with all International Car Shows, in quite a lot of cases, cars weren't the main attractions on and sometimes even off, the automakers stands. And to all of you who are curious to as which carmakers won this game...you guest it, overall, first prize goes once again to the Italians who one way or another, always find a way to sweep us off our feet!

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Paris Show Aftermath - Media Tops, Flops & Thoughts

In terms as of what to watch out for the immediate future, it's always interesting to see which models draw the most, but also the least, attention of the media as well as to know what the majority of journalists are talking about during the press days of an International Motor Show.

Tops

Audi R8 & Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione : These vigorous supercars where without doubt the ultimate stars of the show. Every time you'd passed through Alfa's and Audi's stands you'd see people crowding in lines to photograph, videotape and of course see these two totally different approaches to a common theme.

Citroen C4 Picasso : In the mainstream field Citroen's second generation mid-sized MPV with its futuristic exterior and interior styling gets the first prize in media attention. Although the French carmaker had hefty number of C4 Picasso's spread out in its large stand and even though we all got heavy doses of "Picasso-itis" as the organizers used a dozen or so C4 Picasso to transfer people from one hall to the other, the stands where always packed with people!

Flops

Lancia Delta HPE Concept - With all the fuss in the internet and considering the importance of this prototype in Lancia's future you'd expect that the Delta HPE would be one of the main attractions in the show. Guess again. As many times as I passed through the Italian stand I never saw more than a handful of people looking at the car. I'm not sure if the positioning of the prototype in a dark area in Hall 1 was to blame or the fact that even the press seems to have abandoned the once great Italian mark, but either way, it was quite disappointing.

Peugeot 207 EPURE - Unlike Peugeot's other concept, the 908 RC, the 207 EPURE didn't manage to concentrate much attention on itself. Rather weird considering the fact that the 207 EPURE practically unveils next year's 207 CC.

Thoughts

C-Segment Crossovers : Sure we've seen a dozen or so carmakers produce mid-size crossovers for Europe like Renault's Scenic 4x4 or the Suzuki SX4 (and its Fiat counterpart) in the past but not to this extent. Most journalists agreed that we just saw the birth of a new mainstream category in Paris that will consist of quite a lot of models in 2007 / 2008 -Dodge Caliber, Nissan Qashqai, Renault Koleos, Ford Iosis-X, VW Golf Plus Cross and the upcoming VW Tiguan. This category could very well be the next big thing for Europe after the explosion of SUV's in the late 90's.

Concepts = Production models : Although baptizing production models as concepts isn't something new, at the Paris Show carmakers took it a step further as the majority of the concepts shown where practically production ready : Ford Mondeo Wagon, Renault Koleos SUV, Toyota Auris, Peugeot 207 EPURE, Lancia Delta HPE, Dodge Avenger, Kia pro_cee'd and in less extent, the VW Iroc, Renault Twingo, Skoda Joyster, Ford Iosis X.

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Paris Show Aftermath - We're back !

Carscoop's back from the lovely capitol of France after spending two full days roaming the Paris International Motor Show. And what a couple of days these where at the "XL" sized Mondial de l'Automobile show, full of cars, cars and, lets not forget, cars!

Unfortunately, that was the only thing I managed to see at Paris as 12 hours of walking through all 8 halls of the show again and again where enough to make even a stride through the famous Paris cafe's behind the hotel I stayed seem like a supernatural task. So, apart form getting a taste from the famous French cuisine at a couple of wonderful restaurants the only taste I got from Paris was behind the window of the transfer bus from (the hotel) and to the Paris Expo Centre.

But enough with the nagging, time to share my experiences and thoughts from the 2006 Paris International Show !

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