Frankfurt 2011: Our Favorite Finds — Jason Cammisa

Our editors have been plenty busy scouring the show floor of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show — but in between running to and from press conferences and battling spotty Wi-Fi connections, they picked their three favorite concept and production cars at the show.

Jason Cammisa, West Coast Editor

Peugeot HX-1

Yes I’m a sucker for wagons but that’s not why I picked the Peugeot. I picked it because I about fell over when I saw it. It’s gorgeous. And while I’m intrigued that it has either two or three rows of seats and is only as tall as my knees, the truth is that none of that matters. The French once designed the most beautiful car in the world (Citroën DS, I’m talking to you) and I think it’s about time a car makes the world stop and stare again. This one could do it.

Ford Evos

The Evos shows like less of a new design language than an evolution of Kinetic design but let’s face it – the Kinetic cars are pretty darn hot. And I think we’ll look back at this car (and the similar looking Jaguar XJ) as the beginning of the end of enormous headlights. Of which, ironically, the bigger offenders were the original Kinetic cars. Three cheers for irony, especially when it looks so good.

BMW i8

Amidst all the bad news about terrorism and economic collapse and pollution here’s some good news. This is what I want my future to look like.

PRODUCTION CARS

Porsche 911

I don’t care that you can’t tell it apart from the last 911. That’s the point. It’s a 911 and this is what a 911 looks like.  Except the back looks concept-car awesome. And let’s be honest-that’s what you’ll be seeing after it blows by you.

Mazda CX-5

I haven’t yet seen my co-workers’ choices but im guessing I’m alone in my nomination of the new Mazda crossover as a favorite. I like the CX-5 because it’s cute without looking cheap, it has boatloads of room inside, and if it’s anything like Mazda’s existing crossovers, it’ll be best-in-class to drive. But above all, it doesn’t smack you in the face with a stupid smile.

Volkswagen Beetle R

OK, so VW calls it a concept, but c’mon — this is clearly a preview of an upcoming production model. As for the car itself? If TV’s Carson Cressly, made famous by being the least manly of the Queer Eyes guys, suddenly became a professional boxer and beat Mike Tyson into a persistent vegetative state, you’d root for him too. ‘Nuff said.

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Frankfurt 2011: Our Favorite Finds — Robert Cumberford

Our editors have been plenty busy scouring the show floor of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show — but in between running to and from press conferences and battling spotty Wi-Fi connections, they picked their three favorite concept and production cars at the show.

Robert Cumberford, Automotive Design Editor

CONCEPT CARS

Ford Evos

Not really a car, rather a direction forward for Ford styling. It’s much cleaner, simpler and elegant than recent mainstream Fords, and promises a set of products from Mustang to big SUVs that have a certain coherence and company identity. Let’s just hope they don’t use the same set of cues for Lincoln, too.

Citroën Tubik

Not a chance in hell that we’ll see a production derivative, but this is a  funny, nostalgic and yet forward-looking concept. I sat in it, found it really agreeable and think the whole notion of enjoying the trip rather than focusing on the destination a fine idea for a concept. Funky and fun.

BMW i8

When this compact four seater comes to market it’s not likely to retain transparent side panels, but it will still be the production car closest to a far-out concept available to the public. Dramatic, practical and ecologically correct, it recalls what BMW is supposed to be.

PRODUCTION CARS

Citroën DS 5

After a long period of fumbling and missing the mark, Citroën has come back with one of the most elaborately thought-out and well-executed interiors in the business. Fit, function and finish are exemplary, impressing every designer I talked with in Frankfurt. A nice surprise.

Volkswagen Up

The simplicity of form, clarity of purpose, and promise of accessible pricing make this new VW the true successor of the original Beetle. I suspect it will cannibalize sales of the Polo and Golf, but will also make life difficult for all Asian and European competitors. It has been a long time coming, forty years after the Porsche-designed, engine-under-the-back seat.

Porsche 911

Yes, it’s important, and many valuable changes have been made, but the appearance is frankly disappointing, far too slavishly following past practice. But being faster, lighter and less apt to catch out unprepared drivers is certainly praiseworthy. And of course its success is preordained.

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Frankfurt 2011: Our Favorite Finds — Joe DeMatio

Our editors have been plenty busy scouring the show floor of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show — but in between running to and from press conferences and battling spotty Wi-Fi connections, they picked their three favorite concept and production cars at the show.

Joe DeMatio, Deputy Editor

CONCEPT CARS

BMW i3/i8

They look like the future and they show that BMW, which told us two years ago during the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show that it was taking electric drivetrains very seriously, is going to provide EVs that serve both urban commuters (i3) and enthusiast drivers (i8). And that’s something to celebrate.

Kia GT

Further evidence that the number-two Korean automaker is not only on a rapid ascendency to the big time but will soon eclipse its big brother, Hyundai, in matters of styling excellence. So they had to raid a major German design studio for their styling chief; automotive styling is the most multinational discipline within the automotive industry.

Volkswagen Beetle R

If you’ve spent any time in a New Beetle, the car that took Americans by storm back in 1998, you’ll be shocked when you slide behind the thin-rimmed, flat-bottomed steering wheel of this sport hatch. The interior fairly screams an equal mixture of quality and performance, and the exterior matches the aesthetic. It’s one of the cars at IAA that I most wanted to drive and it finally makes the modern Beetle a real enthusiast’s car.

PRODUCTION CARS

Ford Focus ST

It looks like it will fulfill the promises made by Ford’s European development team starting three years ago, culminating in the concept shown a year ago at the Paris Motor Show. It brings the Focus back to the forefront of affordable, fun performance for American enthusiasts; it’s a reincarnation of the much-missed and short-lived SVT Focus, and it looks great.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

This semi-affordable small family hauler goes from utilitarian to stylish and heralds Mercedes-Benz’s plans to bring five distinct vehicles to America built on its brand-new compact platform. The B-class actually will be the last; look for a production version of the first model we’ll see, the A-class, at the 2012 New York Auto Show, and for that vehicle to be in U.S. dealerships in fall 2012 as a 2013 model. Mercedes, it seems, is finally getting serious about premium small cars, more than a decade after its archival, BMW, did so with the Mini brand.

Porsche 911

The all-new 991-series is the best-looking version of the iconic German sports car for at least three generations. I want one in my driveway and I’ll take a base model with the seven-speed manual, please. I know, I know, the car never changes, really. I don’t care.

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Frankfurt 2011: Our Favorite Finds — Donny Nordlicht

Our editors have been plenty busy scouring the show floor of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show — but in between running to and from press conferences and battling spotty Wi-Fi connections, they picked their three favorite concept and production cars at the show.

Donny Nordlicht, Associate Web Editor

CONCEPT CARS

Jaguar C-X16

This is the concept I cannot wait to see enter production. Jaguar says it wants to return to being a performance-oriented brand, and a two-seat sports car would do just that. While the C-X16 may look great in photos, it looks absolutely gorgeous in person: it’s hard to really take in the car’s low, wide, and relatively long proportions without standing next to it. One neat detail? The jungle cat pictured within the traditional Jaguar grille emblem is wearing sunglasses on this car. A cool cat, indeed.

Ford Fiesta ST

The Fiesta ST may only be a concept by technicality, but it shows that Ford is absolutely serious about expanding its performance portfolio and doing so worldwide. The Fiesta ST utilizes a 180-hp EcoBoost four-cylinder and will probably see the same kind of performance upgrades of its Focus ST big brother, but in a smaller package. What’s so wrong with more performance for the masses? I say nothing at all.

Fisker Surf

Fisker calls this a concept for the time being, but if things — including delivery and production of the basic Karma sedan — go according to plan, the Surf could be in production by 2013/2014. Until then, it’s just too beautiful to ignore. It takes the muscular design of the Karma sedan, and adds a level of seduction by elongating the roofline and a sleekly sloping hatch.

PRODUCTION CARS

Mercedes-Benz B-Class

The B-Class is by no means the most attractive car at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show – not the Mercedes-Benz stand, for that matter – but it makes my top three for its significance. It is the first of a number of vehicles to be built on Mercedes’ new MFA front-wheel drive platform, four or five of which we will see here in the U.S. While the B-Class may not stir the soul, it’s rumored that the “baby CLS” that will ride on this platform is breathtaking.

Ford Focus ST/Opel Astra GTC (tie)

These two hot hatches tie because they make my list for the same reason: they are compact performance hatches and are both heading, undiluted, to the U.S. The fact that both Ford and General Motors are getting serious about giving the states the cars journalists have been crooning over for years shows that not only are they unifying their lineups, but that the American consumer is no longer one who steers away from sportiness. Let’s just hope that Buick manages to build up its brand credibility with the Regal GS in order to build a business case for the GTC’s arrival in our market.

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