By Peter Bleakney and Jacob Black
The mission was simple: Find the most interesting things at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and write about them.
On paper, it seemed easy. Most things that were new were compact/sub-compact crossovers – both production and concept. There were rumblings of something cool maybe coming from Mercedes-Benz, maybe from Porsche. Generally though, this looked like a show where we’d come home with reports of new, production-ready and near-production CUVs to regale you with.
But then Peter got all distracted by big powerful shiny things and only wrote about those, while I got distracted by stuff I might actually be allowed to drive one day, and wrote mostly about those.
Between the two of us, we accidentally put together a list of the most important and interesting things at this year’s Frankfurt show.
Mansory Torofeo Huracan (Peter)
Is the “ regular” Lamborghini Huracan just too regular for you? Extreme German tuner Mansory has the car for you. Their Torofeo Huracan sports a completely new full carbon fibre suit. The body is 30 mm wider in front, 40 mm wider at the back, and features extra aero and larger scoops to feed the engine. No wimpy standard 610 hp here. New pistons, connecting rods, bearings, camshafts, and pair of turbos boost output to a staggering 1000 hp and 737 lb-ft of torque. They claim the Torofeo scoots past 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds and accelerates beyond 340 km/h.
Rolls-Royce Dawn (Peter)
If you need a droptop Roller, but find the Phantom Drophead Coupe just a tad too gauche (and pricy at around half a mil), the new Rolls-Royce Dawn will come in at around $300,000 and likely not have the proletariat throwing their McDonalds wrappers as you pass. Based on the Wraith coupe, this stunning piece of craftsmanship with the 563 hp twin-turbo 6.6L BMW V12 below decks will have you wafting and sunning in uppermost style. Expect this new Roller in the spring of 2016 – just in time for a run to the Diary Queen.
Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo Concept (Peter)
Granted, this one-off concept is pure fantasy, but what Bugatti isn’t? However, this model is actually one we can all enjoy, as it lives in the virtual and imminently accessible world of video gaming. The Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo Concept tears up the world’s racetracks in the latest version of Vision Gran Turismo. Now that the Veyron is out of production, this radical carbon-fibre shell is peek into the future, previewing the brand’s upcoming design language. Meanwhile, is this collection of pixels going to be fast on your gaming screen? The “engineers” feel it will hit 250 km/h in four sections of the virtual Le Mans circuit.
Brabus 730 E63 Wagon (Peter)
Who doesn’t like a hot wagon? German tuner Brabus breathes on the all-ready blistering 590-hp Mercedes-Benz E63 S Wagon and turns it into something altogether more fearsome. This one features Stage 2 tuning which ramps horsepower up to 730 via new turbos and ECU reprogramming. If that’s not enough, Stage 3 involves a complete engine rebuild and that garners 850 hp. Of course the car gets a full makeover, from the brakes to suspension, wheels, interior and exhaust. It takes two weeks for Brabus to turn the cooking E 63 Wagon into this 730, which runs about 200,000 Euros.