The Geneva motor show is one of the two most important European events of the year and manufacturers target their most important unveilings in Switzerland. However, Geneva has another side.
No front-line motor show attracts quite the variety of wild and wacky cars as does Geneva. Outlandish concepts that demonstrate the breadth of a styling house’s imagination, compete for space with equally wacky cars that tiny never previously heard-of manufacturer sunset will soon be in production – but which are never subsequently seen on a road.
To conclude our coverage from this year’s show, here we highlight some of the novel creations that make Geneva great.
Rimac C2
This is the Rimac C_Two, and if the name sounds familiar, it’s because there has been a Rimac Concept 1. Nine of them were built, and one was famously crashed and set on fire by a certain Richard Hammond.
The C_Two is built in Croatia, it has an electric drivetrain, with apparently 1,914hp, and claims a 0-62mph time of 1.85 seconds and a top speed of 258mph. The two-seater is propelled by four electric motors and has a claimed range of around 400 miles between charges.
Lvchi Venere
This four-seater limousine comes from Chinese newcomer Lvchi Auto, and is powered by a 1,000hp electric drivetrain. Four electric motors are involved with a claimed 0-62mph time of under three seconds.
Debuting at the show, Lvchi has big plans – it will start taking orders for a sports car and a coupé at the end of December 2019, by which time an electric SUV, MPV and saloon will have been unveiled, and two and four-seat city cars and a five-door hatch are planned by 2020. The company plans to sell 100,000 cars in 2019 and 550,000 by 2023, by which time its Chinese plants will be joined by one in Italy…
Chelsea Truck Co 6×6
This may look like a Land Rover Defender because, basically, that’s the starting point for this huge six-wheeled vehicle, called the 6×6 Civilian Carrier and built by the – wait for it – Chelsea Truck Company.
No, it’s not the Chelsea Tractor Co, and yes the firm is based in London. Almost 5.5 metres long, the vehicle boasts exterior styling carried out by UK aftermarket specialist Kahn Design, and unsurprisingly it claims to offer a great deal of off-road prowess…
Sbarro 4×4+2
And while we are talking six-wheelers… This is the 4×4+2 from French creators Sbarro. Think it looks scary? You would be right, but we can add some extra frightening facts – several components, including the engine, started life at Porsche…
Renault EZ-Go
This concept could be for real, because it’s on the Renault stand. The EZ-Go is an autonomous vehicle that in the future could provide the role of taxi in emissions-free city centres.
Six occupants can be accommodated, all sitting facing each other, and they enter through a glass roof that raises out of the way.
Mansory Bugatti Veyron Vivere Final Diamond Edition
Everyone we have shown pictures of this car to has reacted – well not very positively. It is a take on the Bugatti Veyron by German aftermarket stylist Mansory. The effect, employed as liberally inside as on the exterior, is a sort of polished marble, actually created using carbon fibre.
Would you pay £1.5 million or so to have your car look permanently as if it has been snowed on?
PAL-V Liberty
This extraordinary device claims to be the world’s first production flying car. The PAL-V Liberty is made in Holland and is a three-wheeled dual-engined vehicle, one for driving it on the ground and the other for powering the rotor blades atop it.
Those perusing it at the Geneva show are able to place orders for the first production versions, due on and above the roads in around a year. The cost? a mere 499,000 Euros, around £445,000 in UK money, before taxes. That price does include some flying lessons, but if it’s still a bit too steep, PAL-V plans a Sport model at a mere €299,000 (£254,000). Time we feel, to fly away from Geneva…