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The 60th Frankfurt Motor Show was the most colourful and significant auto show so far this century. Some 1000 makers from 42 countries took part and the show attracted around 850,000 visitors. A large number of new production models and innovative concept cars battled it out for attention at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The battle of the concept cars
Alfa Romeo unveiled the "8C Competizione", a concept car designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Centre. The 8C harks back to Alfa Romeos of the 1930s and 1940s and is named after the eight cylinder engine developed at that time by the famous engineer Vittorio Jano.German carmaker Audi launched the "Le Man Quattro", a concept car that signals the future of the next generation TT and coupe models. Audi has won the Le Mans 3 times with its R8 model. The "Le Man Quattro"is inspired by the R8, bringing the spirit of the race to the open road.
BMW attracted a great deal of attention with its new 6 series. The new 6 Series appears to be the most mature and comfortable of the new design language BMWs, balancing striking modernity with clear BMW design identity. The first 6 series to go on the market will be the 645Ci Coupe.
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| Beautiful women were used to show off the cars. |
Italian panda
Last year, the Italian automotive giant Fiat launched a new minicar called the Gingo. Renamed the "Panda", the minicar was a major success at the motor show. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher visited the Fiat stand and carefully examined the Panda. Fiat also unveiled the new IDEA minivan produced on the Punto platform and the Fiat Punto SUV concept car.
Full speed ahead
Opel, another German carmaker, also attracted a lot of attention with its third generation Astra, the next step in the evolution of the modern Opel design language first seen on the Speedster sports car and the Vectra, Meriva and Signum.Swedish carmaker Volvo's new generation compact class S40 was one of the most innovative cars in the show. The S40 is the third model to be built on the Focus platform after the Focus C-MAX and Mazda3. It takes obvious design cues from the Volvo middle class S60 and luxury class S80 models. The new S40 is shorter than the previous model but larger in other aspects.
The German carmaker Volkswagon unveiled the fifth generation Golf. Of particular interest is the GTi variant, showing as a concept version that preludes the production car. The car has a turbocharged FSI engine producing 200bhp. The contrasting red paint and black grille are a reference to the first GTI.
| The new Mercedes SLR: McLaren |
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Without question, one of the most popular stands at the Frankfurt Motor Show was the Mercedes stand. In addition to the highly innovative SLR McLaren model, Mercedes launched the E 55 AMG T Model and the striking Vision CLS concept car. Mercedes was one of the shining stars in the Frankfurt Motor Show firmament. |
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