Frankfurt Auto Show Retrospective

So auto show season is upon us. In fact the Frankfurt Auto Show has already passed. Unfortunately living in Ontario, the only Autoshow I really have access to without going out of the country is the Toronto show. Frankly it's not the greatest but alas I suppose it will have to do. I will however be trying to stay up on the latest news and will be posting throughout the season.

The Frankfurt show brought some very interesting concepts this year from the likes of Audi, Mercedes and Volvo of all things.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/photos-audi-quattro-concept#slide-1

My favorite concept debut from Frankfurt is what you see above. The Audi Quattro Concept.
We all know the stats but to reiterate, it has a 4.0 litre twin turbo charged V8 paired with an electric motor. These two things combined produce 700 hp and 590 lb ft of torque. Combine that with Audi's Quattro all wheel drive system (what the car was named for) and you get a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds and a top end of 190 MPH. On top of all that it gets an astonishing 94 MPG. Please GOD let Audi produce this. I will sell my first child to have one. I honestly haven't been this excited about a car's debut since the Nissan GTR...

Audi also debuted the Nanuk.

www.digitaltrends.com/cars/frankfurt-2013-10-coolest-cars-at-the-frankfurt-auto-show/

I'm honestly not quite blown away by this one. If only for the fact that it looks almost exactly like the Lamborghini Parkour. This is more than likely due to the fact that they were both penned by the Giugiarro design house, which I'm still not a huge fan of. The difference lies beneath, whereas the Parcour is powered by a Gallardo V10, the Nanuk concept is powered by a 5.0 litre turbo diesel V10 which produces 544 hp and 737 lb ft. This is all well and good except an Audi exec has already stated that if and when this does go into production it will be powered by the Gallardo V10. This saddens me because if it has the same engine as the Parkour and looks like the Parkour why not just get the Parkour

Sticking with the German brands, Mercedes debuted the S class Coupe Concept

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/frankfurt-motor-show-2013-mercedes-benz-dazzles-with-new-concept-s-class-coupe/

This is probably the best looking vehicle that debuted at Frankfurt this year. It has two 12.3 inch touch screeens and everything else you touch is calfskin leather or hand turned aluminum. The speaker grill is even modeled after desert formations in Utah, how is that for a conversations starter?

I mentioned Volvo debuted a car at Frankfurt earlier in this post. Boy did they, frankly I would like to know where this this thing came from in the depths of Volvo's design house?

http://www.americanluxurymag.com/2013/08/29/volvo-concept-coupe-hybrid/

This is a Volvo (let me repeat that) this is a Volvo. The same company that made the 850 wagon made this piece of art. This car's gearshift lever is cut from pure crystal for god sake! It also happens to be motivated by a 2.0 litre engine which doesn't sound to impressive. This is no normal 2.0 litre though it is turbocharged, supercharged AND has an electric motor attached to the rear axel which helps it produce 400 hp. That is all that is known currently but if this is the way Volvo is heading than I am super excited. Welcome back Sweden!

That is my recap of the Frankfurt Auto show. I did not cover all of the show obviously, these are just some of the notable concept debut's. If the rest of the auto show season is this good it will be a good year and the Toronto show may actually be worth going to. Keep watching this page for more news and rants about what I like and what I (and many others) don't like.