Paris Motor Show; not as much fun as it sounds...

Posting this early because Thursday morning will be spent getting rid of shoe leather, pounding the halls of the Paris Motor Show. I could blog from the event – plenty of people do – but to be honest my day will be so frantic there’s not really time. My first press conference of the day is Vauxhall at 7.30am, which means getting suited and booted from 5.30am to ensure I’m out of my hotel and at the venue on time. I do wonder about the value of starting the event so early. Some of the big American shows, eg, Detroit, have a similar style, but everyone is still half asleep, especially as there are numerous pre-show briefings the night before which often finish after midnight. I’ve also sampled shows – Chicago is one I remember from years ago – where it was 9-5 and everything came to a halt for a lunch-hour. Now that’s civilised! My day will finish when the final stories are written, sometime after midnight. I will have walked miles under sweltering exhibition lights, and eaten and drunk too little. It is not an event to be enjoyed but endured, and I will be back in the show for 8am Friday for more of the same. Dwell on that if you think the life of a motoring hack is glamorous.

Ferrari rubs me up the wrong way

To the average car fan, there’s something quite smug about Ferrari. It’s like punters need to belong to a special club for them even to find out about their new cars. I find it all a bit off-putting, and it’s doing nothing for their brand reputation with me. What am I talking about? The company has published first pictures of a new car, called the SA Aperta (above). It will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show later this week – I’ll be there to take a look – but it’s effectively the 599 convertible. It’s what the Italian firm calls a ‘special series’ model, which means it will be built in limited numbers. In this case, it’s just 80. That’s because it’s to mark the 80^th birthday of styling house Pininfarina, which has created many of Ferrari’s most successful cars. The SA element of the name celebrates Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina, the son and late grand-son of the firm’s founder who have been behind much of its prowess. All good so far… and then this little nugget in the press release. All the cars have already been sold. Talk about sticking two fingers up at anyone who might have the audacity to think about buying one! I’m sure there are scores of people around the world who have the cash to consider this car – and who will see it for the first time in magazines this week – but who aren’t actually customers already (that’s who will have been offered the chance to buy the SA Aperta). It really rubs me up the wrong way. It’s arrogant.

Your Next Peugeot Could Look Like This...

We all love the smell of petrol and the sound of a highly tuned performance engine, but is that soon to be a thing of the past? There’s been an event this week showing off the potential of electric race cars and bikes, and now Peugeot has unveiled this – the EX1. Designed to highlight what can be done with an electric motor and some batteries, the car has already beaten a host of world acceleration records for vehicles of this type. It can complete a mile from a standing start in just over 40 seconds, which is pretty impressive stuff. There’s the prospect of more records to come, which Peugeot won’t talk about now, but teasingly say they’re something to do with driving in China! Developed round an ultra-strong exoskeleton, the EX1 puts out 340bhp via two electric motors, one at the front and one at the back. It’s hard to see in the official picture, but it’s shaped like a water droplet with the rear wheels set closer together than the fronts. Transmission is four-wheel drive. Access to the two-seat interior is via a pair of reverse-opening doors, and once inside the occupants sit race-car style with their legs stretched out in front. I want a go!

First picture: the Lotus Elite

Look very closely at the bonnet badge on the front of this stylish silver racer and you might be able to pick out that it’s green and yellow. That means only one thing – a new car from Lotus. Reviving the name Elite, which first appeared in the late Fifties and ran through into the Eighties, and at 4.60 metres long, this is a biggest car the Norfolk company has produced since the Esprit. Should Lotus be doing stuff this size? Or should it stick to smaller cars like the Elise and Exige, and leave this sector to Aston Martin and others? It’s clearly something bosses have thought long and hard about. The press statement states: “There will always be those who believe that Lotus should stick to small sports cars but we didn’t take the decision to design something like the Elite lightly, it’s based on months of careful research and planning. It’s worth noting this sector has been very successful for us in the past and now the Elite raises the benchmark higher still.” A front-mid-engined 2+2 with rear-wheel drive, it’s powered by a 5.0-litre V8 developing 620bhp. Interestingly there’s the option of a hybrid powertrain with an F1-style KERS regenerative braking / energy capture system. Expect a top speed of around 3.6 seconds. Start saving for the £115,000 price tag – you’ve got more than three years before this car is due for launch!

Ford's all new Focus ST - official pics

Everyone loves a fast Ford and here’s the latest! Ahead of its debut at the Paris Motor Show – as blogged about on 6 September – these are the first official pictures of the all-new Focus ST. It’s described as ‘an early preview model’ but don't let that fool you. This is as production-ready as they come. Check out that massive black front grille and the centrally-mounted twin rear exhausts which are fused to make them look like one. The car will go on sale in the UK early in 2012, almost a full year after the standard versions of the next-generation Focus make their debut. The ST features a unique 250bhp version of the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine. Insiders say it will be completely true to Ford's ST heritage, offering enthusiasts an intoxicating cocktail of exhilarating performance, dynamic handling and an addictive engine note. And that new colour is called Tangerine Scream; after the success of the orange on the last ST and the green on the RS, this is bound to be popular with buyers. Check out the matching brake callipers.

Performance car models... with personalised plates

Saw this over the weekend and thought what a great idea for the performance car fan in your family. It’s a model of their favourite car – owned or aspired to – with a personalised plate. You can put anything you like on the front as long it’s eight characters or less. Each is colour-correct; black lettering on white at the front, and black on yellow for the rear, and silver on black for older vehicles. They will do names, dates, football club initials like ‘MUFC’, actual number plates, messages or words. I had a look at the website www.model-marque.com where they’re sold and there are hundreds of cars available. Check out the picture above for just three ideas. (I’ve got a friend Dale who is just about to turn 40 – how spooky is that?!). There are also plenty of WRC and Formula One race cars, as well as a slightly bizarre sideline in tractors. Each replica is roughly 25cms long and and many feature opening doors, bonnet and boot.

Vauxhall's new Astra three-door

If you’ve been waiting for the sporty three-door version of the newest Astra, the launch date is getting ever closer. Vauxhall will show this concept version – badged the GTC – at next month’s Paris Motor Show, giving the biggest clues yet on how the production car will look when it goes on sale next year. Insiders say the changes will be minimal, though the 21-inch twisted five-spoke alloys might not make the cut. There’s also a very interesting line in the press statement which says: ‘If the GTC moniker were to be adopted, it would be the first time that a Vauxhall has been so named’. Sounds like a done deal to me. The design features Vauxhall’s signature ‘blade’ down the flank – mimicking the larger Insignia – and note the second line running from the door handle to the rear that’s almost a mirror image of it. Hinting at the car’s potential as a hot hatch is an electronic limited-slip diff and an updated version of Vauxhall’s FlexRide adaptive damping system. Power comes from a four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbocharged engine with start/stop technology.

News of hot new Focus on the way

An all-new version of one of the UK’s most popular cars is to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in less than a month. And in a rather striking dark yellow, here it is. Fleet operators who use the Ford Focus as a workhorse for their company car drivers will be watching keenly. The private buyers who love the Focus for its mix of style and excellent dynamics will also be paying attention. And you, the performance car fans, should also be interested because this will form the basis of all-new warm ST and hot RS models. Paris will see the launch of the five-door and estate derivatives, due on sale in the spring around the time of the new 11-reg plate. But my sources say there will be announcements about sporting variants on Press Day. That’s Thursday 30 September, so mark it in your diary. So what of the car? Assuming it drives as well as every other Ford of recent years, it will undoubtedly be a big success. The lines of the smaller Fiesta are clearer visible in the newcomer, especially at the rear end. And maybe that yellow will grow on me. Or maybe not.

The New Suzuki Swift Sport?

Writing this in a Munich hotel room after an interesting press conference at the launch of the all-new Suzuki Swift. In the corner of the venue was this performance version (above), which I and many other journalists thought probably pointed the way to the more powerful Swift Sport. The performance flagship of the outgoing model has been a bit of a hit in the UK, accounting for about 10 per cent of sales and giving the firm some much needed credibility. We won’t see the new Sport until late next year, and despite what you might think, this isn’t it. This is the Style II, a showcase for all the accessories you can buy to put on your standard Swift. There are aggressive new bumpers, rear wing, rubbing strips and 17-inch black alloys – all very tasty. There’s nothing in the way of performance upgrades though, so you’ll have to wait for the Sport for that. As before it will be based on a 1.6-litre petrol engine – the standard car only gets a 1.2 – and should offer enthusiasts a bit of extra bang for your buck. Expect something more than the current 123bhp next time round.