Geneva is a tough act to follow.
Automakers launched stunners such as the Ferrari 488 GTB, McLaren 675LT, and Aston Martin Vulcan at the Motor Show there last month—so for many, the upcoming show in New York will be challenged to produce anything that generates real excitement. Some, like Ferrari and Lamborghini, have decided to forgo the New York International Auto Show altogether. It’s better to save time and resources unless you’ve got something high-caliber to flaunt, the thinking goes. Such others as Maserati, with its Ghibli Zegna Concept, and Audi, with its R8 V10 Competition, will show expensive variants on existing models.
There will be, however, a few things to merit salivation. The British Are Coming
McLaren will unveil its new Sport Series model, a $180,000 sports coupe that will provide real competition for the Audi R8, Porsche 911, and Ferrari California. The British brand has kept the car hidden, but I did have a look at it last month in Woking, England. It’s beautiful.
“The visual narrative of the aesthetic is the function of the car,” its designer, Robert Melville, said at that time. “The idea is to design something that anybody — if they stood with it for 10 minutes — could work out how and where the air is flowing.”
The McLaren 570S.
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Expect it to have 500-plus horsepower, suicide doors, and a body like a stingray.
Rolls-Royce, too, will show something special: a custom bespoke Phantom Drophead Coupe with a gunmetal exterior, black lambswool carpets, and red leather seats. The Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood will be solid silver. The automaker will also have a special edition Wraith and a bespoke Ghost Series II to show off.
Lyons Motor Car, a virtual unknown, will show its LM2 Streamliner, a 1,700-hp hypercar expected to cost more than US$1-million. The car will supposedly hit 60 miles per hour in 2.2 seconds on its V8 engine and will be produced in New York State.
Bentley will show its EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept, the one that earned rave reviews in Geneva for its taut body, chic style, and promising performance numbers. In a statement about the car, head designer Sang Yup Lee said he judges it by one criteria: “Unless you fall in love with it at first sight, the car is a failure.” (Would that more luxury brands followed that philosophy.)
The Cadillac CT6, teased here in the automaker’s new series of TV commercials, will also debut a new family of V6 engines.
Cadillac, Via YouTube
More affordable, perhaps, for most buyers, Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Land Rover, and Jaguar will show mostly just 2016 updates on several popular existing models.
Yet on the new front,Cadillac will also unveil the CT6, a new sedan meant to compete against BMW’s 6-Series.
BMW, meanwhile, will show the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe, a two- door sports car made in conjunction with BMW’s longtime design partner. The car packs a 540-hp variation of BMW’s turbo V8 engine and can hit 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. It’s also one of the best-looking models BMW has ever produced: sleek and dangerous like a shark.
Mercedes will introduce yet more SUVs into its already-filled portfolio of big-rigs, the new GLE and G65AMG. Audi will show, most notably, the electric A3 e-Tron, and, less notably, the 2016 models of the Q7, S6, A6, and TT.
From Jaguar, expect to see the new XF sedan—that’s the one that will challenge the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, and Audi A6 — and the new, high-powered versions of the F-Type.
Aston Martin will carry over the aforementioned Vulcan track car from Geneva, plus its current lineup, refreshed for 2016. Lexus will show its next-generation RX, the crossover that became ubiquitous soon after its launch in 1998.
Aston Martin Vulcan
Graeme Fletcher, Driving
Finally, Porsche will show for the first time a still- secret roadster it is describing as “radically high- performance.” So good they can’t even give us a teaser photo? Here’s hoping.
