Picking out la crème de la crème at Paris this year was tricky, even if the show wasn’t as rollicking as it has been in past years.
Either concepts or production-ready models, there was plenty that looked promising – honing it down to the top five required shaving off a few cars that’d ordinarily have been shoe-ins. However, here are our picks for best-in-show à Paris cette année. Official colour of the show? Bleu, bien sûr.
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The Nissan Pulsar Nismo at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
Never mind those twin rear-drive IDX concepts: even in its heyday, the Datsun 510 was still slightly outsold by the humble little B210. Put it another way – just because a car is admired by the enthusiast crowd doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for a company to chase after it, especially at the entry level. However, here’s the alternative Nissan should build, the Pulsar Nismo. You may remember the Pulsar name as attached to a fairly unassuming little T-top coupe, but in Japan it was a relatively hot hatchback. In GTI-R form, it was basically a three-door WRX: 2.0L turbo, all-wheel-drive, great big ugly protuberance on the hood.
This concept continues that tradition, except for the ugly part. Under the hood there’s a 247hp version of the Juke’s 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, and the suspension looks set up to tackle the Nürburgring. Supplement the Sentra with a nice-looking hatchback and then make a barnstorming version available to beat the VW GTI at its own game? Sounds like a good idea to me, Nissan.
Alfa Romeo 4C Spider
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The Alfa Romeo 4C Spyder at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
Ferrari’s big reveal in Paris this year was a drop-top version of the 458 Speciale. Yawn. Instead, across the way, was a car costing thousands less, but more compact, more vicious, and even more beautiful. You really need a racetrack to uncork the prancing stallion, but where an Alfa-Romeo is concerned, that passion can’t wait to be let loose to cut a rug on the street. Powered by the same 237-horsepower 1.75L turbocharged four as the 4C coupe, the Spider is even prettier. Oh yeah, and you can hear it sing its siren song through an Akaprovič carbon-titanium exhaust. Wonderful.
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The Volkswagen XL Sport at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
The name is almost goofy enough to disqualify this satin-blue machine right off the bat, but Volkswagen’s hasty hybridization experiment has created a car that’s truly interesting. With a V-twin Italian heart-transplant from Ducati stuffed in the back, and a low curb weight and aerodynamic drag, the XL-sport is a winning combination. Plus, it just looks cool. Almost no other car generated as much attention as this relatively straight-forward engine-swap, and we can’t wait to see what happens if VW actually builds a testbed to see how it handles.
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The Lamborghini Asterion at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
It might not be quite ready for primetime, but don’t think Lamborghini’s concept hybrid isn’t crazy enough to cut the mustard. Sure, it’s a bit of a GT in many ways, and a hybridized Lamborghini might not make sense at first, but remember, they’ve named this thing after a minotaur. Whoever heard of a friendly minotaur?
Packing 910 horsepower, the Asterion might look ike the grand tourers Ferrucio Lamborghini always intended to build, but there’s a fair degree of Miura-style madness there as well. It’s only a matter of time before supercar buyers demand some element of fuel-efficiency when they’re low-speed posing in stop-and-go, and the Lamborghini answers that call. It also still cranks the volume up to eleven when you stomp on it, so what’s the worry?
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The Citroen Cactus Airflow at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
This being a French car show, we have to have at least one French car in our top fives. While I’m tempted to give top honours to either the art-car Simca or the Citroën SM, I think we have to acknowledge the unique wave of the future that is the Cactus. Brace yourself, for we’re about to enter the realm of the delightfully weird.
With a three-cylinder engine and a compressed air tank, the Cactus Airflow hits 2L/100kms on the fuel-consumption scale, and weighs less than the brand-new Mazda MX-5. It’s got odd styling cues up front, aerodynamics-enhancing bumps on the doors, 19” alloys with aerodynamic fairings that spin into place like they were spice-shakers, plus it seats four and has a usable hatchback. It’s a very strange car, but a very appealing one at the same time. Is Canada ready for some Citroën funk to take its place among the Camrys and Civics? Maybe not, but it’s hard to argue with the fuel economy.
Click here for full coverage of the 2014 Paris Motor Show
Paris is a city of glamour and glittering lights, of music and theatre, of laughter and romance. However, it does have to be said that there’s quite a lot of dog poo lying around. Ditto at this year’s auto show, which had winners aplenty, but also a few stinkers. Here’s our rogue’s selection of les misérables.
Opel Zafira Tourer
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The Opel Zafira Tourer at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
Opel is the German version of General Motors (Vauxhall in the UK), and their Zafira isn’t a bad car at all, overall. It’s usefully-sized as an MPV, with plenty of space and seating for a small family. But up front, oh Lordy, that face! It looks like a Mazda5 that’s started listening to Linkin Park. Or the fifth member of Kiss – either way put the dropcloth back so we don’t have to see it any more. Yeesh.
Nimrod Ferrari 458
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The Nimrod Elite-tuned Ferrari 458 Italia at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
So, how does one go about ruining one of the most beautiful cars in the world? Well, you do this – a questionable bodykit and a colour combination lifted from the 1983 San Diego Padres baseball team. My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
Parked next to this 458 was an Aventador that had also been fitted with one of Nimrod Elite Tuning’s kits, the general aesthetic looking a bit like an accident at a factory that makes protractors. Please, just leave well enough alone.
PGO Coastline
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The PGO Coastline at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
I’m willing to concede that some of the Porsche-ish machinery at French niche maker PGO’s stand actually looked pretty interesting. The company started out making 356 replicas, so a tribute car actually makes sense. That plus a 181-horsepower turbocharged 1.6L BMW engine, rear-wheel-drive and, as Leo DiCaprio would say, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.
But the roof on the Coastline, their latest car? Good heavens – it looks like what happens when I try to fold a fitted sheet. That plus teak inserts, blue-and-white upholstery, and a ho-hum automatic transmission makes for a big ol’ non, merci.
SsangYong Rodius
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The SsangYong Rodius at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
Korean manufacturer SsangYong is not known for their skill in the aesthetics department. In fact, the previous Rodius just may have been the single ugliest vehicle ever conceived. It made the Pontiac Aztec look like a Lamborghini Miura. The new Rodius merely looks like a Nissan Pathfinder that’s been stung by a cloud of bees and is now having an allergic reaction. It seats up to eleven in relative discomfort, and just as the gleaming maraschino cherry on top, this one has a manual transmission. That’s right: you can’t get a stick-shift Porsche GT3, but you can get a wheeled apartment building with a clutch pedal and a six-speed. What a world.
Fiat 500 Blue Jeans
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The Fiat 500 Blue Jeans at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Brendan McAleer, Driving
For the reveal of their 500X crossover, Fiat contacted famous artist and floppy-hat enthusiast Ron Arad, who created a spinning sculpture, made of layered black and white like a high-velocity tiramisu. Interesting, and the 500X looks pretty good too. However, there were a number of other artsy 500s at the show, and one of them was about as attractive as Mom Jeans. The funky little Fiat can pull off a number of looks, but even it can’t look good in the full-on Canadian Tuxedo.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
