2006 Melbourne Motor Show - A few nice pics!

[Germaniac]

G'day everyone, went to the motor show the other night! Good fun, lots of nice cars - highlights for me included the Alfa Romeo Brera (Soooooo hot), Peugeot 407 Coupe, Holden Efijy, BMW M6, Maybach 57 S (huge surprise to me, but it looked amazing in the colour combo, pics later) and the new Mini Works range (with huge variety in trim/wheels options, looking great!). New S Class was also very nice and I was very impressed by the Suburu Impreza Facelift - STI's looking sweet!

A few pics, sorry about the random exposures, it's a new cam and it was accidently set on aperture lock:

My favourite of the show, the Holden Efigy concept - never really been a fan but in the flesh it is dropdead gorgeous, a real styling masterpiece

http://img430.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0349ql.jpg


In my opinion the nicest looking production car of the show, an Alfa Romeo Brera 3.2, with ~190kw and one sexxxxy body:

The BMW M6: we actually had the honour of getting shown around it, our 530 has been playing up a little so our salesman told us to speak to some guy and long story short he showed us around it and let us sit in it - he explained all about the weight saving measures (carbon fibre, magnesium, aluminum, polycarbonate whatever) - quite extraordinary really. Very impressive;

http://img430.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0677jb.jpg


Absolutely beaut Maybach 57 S interior - never been a fan of these but who can't like this

A few examples of the new Mini Works trims - complete with carbon fibre mirrors, boot handles, interior as well as some funky new + very attractive wheels



F430's looking good as ever

http://img430.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0193vl.jpg


Shots of the Cayman/Facelift Boxter




Terrible photo, but the very attractive new 407 Coupe - didn't look that great in black though

http://img430.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0499zp.jpg


Beautiful and classy Audi S8 interior



And the very nice Pagani Zonda Roadster - oddly placed in amongst the Elfin stand though which is a small, low budget Australian club car manufacture, which really made the Zonda look like an uber-Elfin to most - not really the best place for it I would have thought.. this is the only example registered in Australia, sitting at ~$1.3million AU retail...




The Last Holden Monaro Ever, being auctioned off on Ebay as we speak here, currently sitting at over $180,000AU - slightly ridiculous for a ~$60,000 car. All for a good cause though




Anyhow that's all, enjoy the pics!

 

[PanterroR]

Excellent pics, Germaniac, thanks for sharing!

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Great pics Germaniac.

Did you have a look at the Audi Q7? It was meant to be on show.

 

[wltsm]

A good range of pictures, that holden concept looks amazing!

 

[Germaniac]

Great pics Germaniac.

Did you have a look at the Audi Q7? It was meant to be on show.

Yeah I did - didn't excite me a great deal to be honest - I've always felt its finer details (front/rear mainly) were not executed as well as they could've been which in my mind reduces the appeal of the whole car.

The car they touted as the 'most important' car of the show was in fact the replacement for the Australian Toyota Avalon called the 'Aurion' - again, it didn't excite me at all, mainly because it looked like a carbon copy of the Ford Falcon (I think it might've been penned by the same guy?) and also, it's FWD, and this alone will heavily jeapodize its marketability....

Oh, and the Citroen C6 was an interesting looking car, verdict's still out on that one for me...


Forgot to look at the RR Phantom LWB, spewin'!


Here's a little video by drive.com.au of the event, mainly covering dull and boring cars noone wants to hear about...
http://media.drive.com.au/?rid=18055&vf=2&bg=33&pp=0

 

[LaArtist]

wow man lovin that zonda.. please post more pics..
i dont know if its the lights .. but the colour looks diffrent from the other yellowish zondas ive seen..
well im sure its somewhat diffrent.. cause they offer like 1000 shades of silver..haha.. no joke

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Yeah I did - didn't excite me a great deal to be honest - I've always felt its finer details (front/rear mainly) were not executed as well as they could've been which in my mind reduces the appeal of the whole car.

The car they touted as the 'most important' car of the show was in fact the replacement for the Australian Toyota Avalon called the 'Aurion' - again, it didn't excite me at all, mainly because it looked like a carbon copy of the Ford Falcon (I think it might've been penned by the same guy?) and also, it's FWD, and this alone will heavily jeapodize its marketability....

Oh, and the Citroen C6 was an interesting looking car, verdict's still out on that one for me...


Forgot to look at the RR Phantom LWB, spewin'!


Here's a little video by drive.com.au of the event, mainly covering dull and boring cars noone wants to hear about...
http://media.drive.com.au/?rid=18055&vf=2&bg=33&pp=0

Oh really? How would you rate it against the ML? I hope they have it at the Brisbane show in 2 weeks. Too many times they've had cars at Melbourne that dont bother showing up at Brisbane?

Oh yeah I've seen the Aurion being trucked about up here. It is very boring, but at least not as butt ugly as the Avalon.

 

[Snake Vargas]

Hey, good, someone went to the Melbourne show. Guess you guys sometimes actually have something worthwhile to see in that little ol' town of yours. j/k

I'm a little less amazed by the motor shows these days, since I see so much motoring news on the internet. Nothing's really ever 'new' anymore, but it's still good to see cars in the metal. I use the opportunity to collect (more like sign up for, these days) some brochures, and to sit in any prospective purchases all in one place.

I think the Aurion was largely done by Nick Hogios, who did the BA Falcon redesign, I think, especially the sports models. He won a design competition and got his chance at Ford that way. He was one of my tutors in Industrial Design at UNSW, for what it's worth. Interesting to see where he's gone now.

I reckon the Aurion looks better than the Falcon; IMO. Sure, it's a little bland in the way that a mainstream car needs to be, but it's a good bland, as opposed to an ugly bland. Since it's FWD and people are still hung up on which wheels are driven (though my opnion is that not many could tell the difference in a blind test), sure, it'll automatically cause some people to count it out. However, it'll likely at least kill off the Mitsu 380, if not doubly so in tag-team with the forthcoming new Camry.

 

[Germaniac]

wow man lovin that zonda.. please post more pics..
i dont know if its the lights .. but the colour looks diffrent from the other yellowish zondas ive seen..
well im sure its somewhat diffrent.. cause they offer like 1000 shades of silver..haha.. no joke

Ahaha, you and your beloved Zonda.... unfortunately I only had a small (32mb) card with me so had to limit the snaps; I took one other of the Zonda (rear) but it's blurry - I'll post it tomorrow since the computer downstairs is off (it's on that). I'm pretty sure it's just the regular yellow - it looked the same as all those I've seen in pictures and videos. It's a combination of the lighting and the high shutter speed on the camera (unintentional) which makes it look darker. Funny bout the silver

Oh really? How would you rate it against the ML? I hope they have it at the Brisbane show in 2 weeks. Too many times they've had cars at Melbourne that dont bother showing up at Brisbane?

Oh yeah I've seen the Aurion being trucked about up here. It is very boring, but at least not as butt ugly as the Avalon.

Personally I think the ML is tonnes better looking, and I'm certainly not biassed towards MB, I just think it's the case. Much more aggressive and toned, whereas the Q7 (with its long, round bonnet) looks a little bloated in my opinion - just what you don't want on a SUV (they already look big enough )

Hehe, for some reason I didn't mind the old Avalon - I thought it had quite a bit of character, despite being hideously boring.

Hey, good, someone went to the Melbourne show. Guess you guys sometimes actually have something worthwhile to see in that little ol' town of yours. j/k

Hey you, shut up, at least we know what a good city looks like down here hehe.

I'm a little less amazed by the motor shows these days, since I see so much motoring news on the internet. Nothing's really ever 'new' anymore, but it's still good to see cars in the metal. I use the opportunity to collect (more like sign up for, these days) some brochures, and to sit in any prospective purchases all in one place.

Yeah, it's certainly much better to see cars in the flesh, and really the motor show's an environment that's pretty conducive to accentuating what the carmakers want us to see in their cars (nice pretty displays, well positioned lights, rotating thingies, etc).

I reckon the Aurion looks better than the Falcon; IMO. Sure, it's a little bland in the way that a mainstream car needs to be, but it's a good bland, as opposed to an ugly bland. Since it's FWD and people are still hung up on which wheels are driven (though my opnion is that not many could tell the difference in a blind test), sure, it'll automatically cause some people to count it out. However, it'll likely at least kill off the Mitsu 380, if not doubly so in tag-team with the forthcoming new Camry.

I'd like to see you take a car out in a blind test You're quite right in that I'm not sure too many would be able tell the difference between FWD/RWD when they're wrapped around a tree with a blindfold on Anyhow - I personally think neither the Falcon or Aurion are very attractive but I just find the Falcon more appealing in its concept and execution - for starters its RWD configuration but also the wider spread of (faster/more enjoyable) engines on offer, the lary/tacky bodykits on many of the models: I dunno, the idea of a bland, solid, reliable FWD V6 Toyota doesn't appeal to me as much as a stonking, loud, RWD grossly unenvironmental 290kw FPV-GTP Falcon Hehe, not that I'd ever buy one, but all idiocy aside I truly think that in a car of this size, RWD is a necessity - my brother slid his 93 Civic into a high gutter going round a corner a little too fast on a slippery road and it was in the most part due to FWD and the loss of control it brought about when he applied the throttle - imagine the damage in a ~1.6tonne family sedan (as opposed to a featherweight 3 door hatch) in the same scenerio - not pretty I would imagine. I'm no scientist and I won't ever pretend to be but it makes more sense to me to have drive and steering going through different wheels, as opposed to the same..

Speaking of the 380, I really feel for it actually - by all accounts it seems to be a pretty good car (leagues ahead of the Magna it replaced anyway), but it seems that because of the heritage that has been bestowed upon it it's been doomed to fail before it was even released. And re-released.

 

[LaArtist]

cool man thnx alot once again for the nice pics

 

[Snake Vargas]

Hehe, for some reason I didn't mind the old Avalon - I thought it had quite a bit of character, despite being hideously boring.

Err, ok.. Avalon? Character? I didn't think it was a bad car per se, but just not terribly exciting.

Hey you, shut up, at least we know what a good city looks like down here hehe.

Yeah, I guess that because I'm living in that city, I sometimes do take for granted how good it looks.

Yeah, it's certainly much better to see cars in the flesh, and really the motor show's an environment that's pretty conducive to accentuating what the carmakers want us to see in their cars (nice pretty displays, well positioned lights, rotating thingies, etc).

I like the opportunity to see all cars in a short amount of time and small area - I can compare everything on the same night. Especially with the interior - the feel of plastics and upholstery is very important to me.

I'd like to see you take a car out in a blind test You're quite right in that I'm not sure too many would be able tell the difference between FWD/RWD when they're wrapped around a tree with a blindfold on Anyhow - I personally think neither the Falcon or Aurion are very attractive but I just find the Falcon more appealing in its concept and execution - for starters its RWD configuration but also the wider spread of (faster/more enjoyable) engines on offer, the lary/tacky bodykits on many of the models: I dunno, the idea of a bland, solid, reliable FWD V6 Toyota doesn't appeal to me as much as a stonking, loud, RWD grossly unenvironmental 290kw FPV-GTP Falcon Hehe, not that I'd ever buy one, but all idiocy aside I truly think that in a car of this size, RWD is a necessity - my brother slid his 93 Civic into a high gutter going round a corner a little too fast on a slippery road and it was in the most part due to FWD and the loss of control it brought about when he applied the throttle - imagine the damage in a ~1.6tonne family sedan (as opposed to a featherweight 3 door hatch) in the same scenerio - not pretty I would imagine. I'm no scientist and I won't ever pretend to be but it makes more sense to me to have drive and steering going through different wheels, as opposed to the same..

LOL, I'll pay that! Well, just to reiterate (since I assume you understood), I meant that most people don't use these cars in such a capacity, and to the extent of their handling abilities, that FWD becomes a factor. Add ESP and Traction Control and you'll be right, most of the time. Sure, I think that drive power and steering are better if they make use of as many wheels' grip as possible, but I just get the idea that the RWD superiority issue is beat up so much, everywhere - in general public, in media, on forums..

I rather like the Falcon, for the average family sedan it is - innocuous; the quintessential Joe Average car, 2.3 kids and all that. The proportions and overall look suit its purpose. The souped up versions also do a pretty decent job.

As for a '93 Civic.. well, these days I mainly drive a 2000 Civic sedan. Despite its low mass, it's certainly no performer, in straight lines or around bends, and leaves me distinctly underwhelmed. There are some decent FWD cars, but I am willing to bet that a '93 Civic isn't one of them. I second that large and somewhat powerful cars are well served by RWD or AWD, but there's a world of difference even within the realm of FWD.

Speaking of the 380, I really feel for it actually - by all accounts it seems to be a pretty good car (leagues ahead of the Magna it replaced anyway), but it seems that because of the heritage that has been bestowed upon it it's been doomed to fail before it was even released. And re-released.

Yeah, I pity it as well. It's surely better than the Magna, but I'll hold back on the "pretty good car" part though - 4 airbags when the new standard is 6? Tilt-only adjust for the steering wheel? Amongst a few others. That it was Based on the US Galant was an insurmountable handicap, too, with such limitations. Not to mention that it's hardly the best time for a large sedan, and especially a barely-average large sedan. After the first round of reviews, and even more now, IMO it's just a matter of when, not if, that Mitsubishi ceases to be a local manufacturer. I can't say I'm happy to see the jobs go, but I'm not willing to buy a 380 just to prop up the local manufacturer outfit.