QUANT eSPORTLIMOUSINE: This is how you Concept

The Geneva Motor Show is like ampm, too much good stuff. This year is no exception with significant production debuts and awesome concept cars left and right. The Auto Salon also carries a strong tradition of intriguing concept cars from boutique European brands, design studios, engineering groups and colleges. The best of 2014 in this category is the QUANT eSPORTLIMOUSINE by nanoFLOWCELL. The heart of the concept is the nanoFLOWCELL that promises 920 horsepower from electric motors and over 350 miles of range. How is this all possible? nanoFLOWCELL. While the validity of these claims is yet to be determined there is no denying the awesome design of the QUANT. Imagine a Lotus Evora blown up to fit four adults and still remain proportionally sound, add a full length gullwing door per side and you have the perfect recipe for a concept car. The challenge is of course to stay away from full cartoon car mode and the QUANT does not disappoint as it has a concept car design yet manages to keep a small sense of plausibility. A job well done.

Geneva Preview: Future? Shape of Volvo

Imagine the shape of a Volvo, the commercial asks. Curvy and swoopy is what comes to mind even if you are supposed to think boxy as you remember the last Volvo you saw. When was the last time you even saw a Volvo? Volvo has been making pretty curvy cars for a generation now even if its legend has been built on boxier shapes. The updated S60 and XC60 are curvier still as the commercial shows, and the V60 is pretty far away from the traditional Volvo wagon shape as you can get. It can masquerade as any other brand easily. Yet, just as the public finally imagines a curvy Volvo and forgets all about straight edge Volvos for good, the company is unveiling concept after concept that brings back edges. The latest estate concept from Volvo looks closer to what Volvos did last decade and it would not be a stretch to say that it certainly fits better in my dream of how a Volvo should look. It's evident that Volvo realizes that perhaps it went too far from its roots in its most recent cars and is now looking for a sharper design more coherent with its past image. And it's not a bad thing at all as the last few concepts have been interesting.  Perhaps the long overdue XC90 will be more chiseled than curvy regardless of what the latest commercial sells us.

 

Automotive Power Rankings Geneva Motorshow Edition

For those of you that follow sports you know that power rankings is all about the teams that are at the top of the game. With that in mind let's take a look at the first installment of Kill It With Fire power rankings. In this edition we'll rank the brands solely based on their performance at the Geneva Motorshow and ignore for a moment their sales, recalls and comparison tests results. These rankings are based on the impact, style, and "wow" factor of both production and concept debuts in Geneva. In other words the winners are the ones that made the most noise in Geneva.

1	Lamborghini	Lamborghini takes first place with its show stopping Aventador LP-700-4. 700 horsepower from a brand new V12 and incredible styling make Lamborghini the undisputed Geneva winner.
2	Volkswagen and Audi	The Golf convertible and Tiguan debuts weren't the greatest but the Bulli, A3 and Guigaro styled concept gave VW and Audi a great Geneva portfolio.
3	Koenigsegg	The Agera looks poised to be a legitimate Veyron challenger, the available ski box is an interesting touch.
4	Ferrari	The FF is Ferrari's first hatchback, patented all wheel system with two gearboxes is intriguing.
5	Alfa Romeo	The 4C's lightweight and great styling would be a great launch product when Alfa comes to the states.
6	Saab	The PhoeniX Concept features great styling and proves that Saab is looking ahead.
7	Nissan and Infiniti	The Nissan Esflow and the Infiniti Etherea feature adventurous styling perfect for an autoshow. On the production front the Micra features the return of the Miller cycle engine.
8	Morgan	The Threewheeler is a great blast from the past.
9	Toyota	Toyota is taking its time developing its new coupe but the second generation FT-86 looks great.
10	Renault	The Captur and R-Space continue Renault's great concept car lineage.
11	Bertone	The vintage styled X-Type looked intriguing but isn't likely to see production from Jaguar.
11	Aston Martin	The Virage looks great like all other Aston Martins before
12	Jaguar	The XKR-S celebrates the 50th anniversary of the E-Type
13	Rolls-Royce	The 102-EX is a Phantom with batteries under the hood and electric motors in place of the fuel tank.
14	Maserati	The Grancabrio gains a Sport version that adds additional performance to the standard great looks
15	Mazda	Mazda will get its styling mojo back if it can translate the Minagi CUV concept to reality with minimal changes.
16	Mercedes-Benz	The C-Class coupe features a classy if somewhat traditional coupe design.
17	BMW	The ConnectedDrive concept is the high-tech take on the roadster
18	De Tomaso	Will De Tomaso make a comeback with the Deauville? Only time will tell.
19	Ford	Neither the Ranger nor the B-Max will be coming to the states.
20	Hyundai	The i40 continues Hyundai's expressive styling momentum. It is essentially a Sonata Wagon that's not cleared for US sales yet.
21	Chevrolet	GM is clearly saving its best for domestic auto shows as the Cruze hatchback is little to get excited about.
22	Kia	The Rio and Picante look good for compacts but aren't terribly exciting.
23	Lancia	The Ypsilon loses out to its corporate cousin the Fiat 500 in styling and the rebadged Chryslers look exactly like rebadged Chryslers.
24	Skoda	The Skoda Design Concept is too subtle for a concept.

Volkswagen Microbus Concept Reborn as Bulli

Volkswagen has reprised its well-liked 2001 Detroit Microbus concept in the form of the 2011 Geneva Bulli concept. During its 10 year autoshow absence the original concept has shrunk considerably to 156 inches in length or about 10 inches shorter than the Golf. It also gains a 113 horsepower electric motor and a 40 kilowatt-hour battery pack that's good for 186 miles before needing a charge. The Bulli, which is what the original Volkswagen Bus was meant to be called, stays true to its 2001 version style-wise for the most part but features sharper lines and creases. Inside the Bulli features a minimalistic interior that uses an iPad instead of a traditional console. While Volkswagen missed a great opportunity by not producing the Microbus concept it has a chance to redeem itself by greenlighting the Bulli into production.

Geneva Motorshow Concepts

We've taken a look at some of the upcoming Geneva production debuts and now it's time to look at some of the most exciting concepts at the show. Since you have already seen the sketches of the A3 Sedan Concept let's move on to two of Geneva's most anticiapted concepts: the Subaru and Toyota rearwheel drive coupe twins. Both Subaru and Toyota will show close-to-production concepts of their coupes. While Subaru and Toyota will show nearly prodcution looking concepts others will be more adventorous in style and reason. The BMW ConnectedDrive concept is a modern take on the classic roadster meant to showcase the upcoming possibilites of auto tech. Another concept to watch for is the Bertone B99. It's the Italian design house take on the much talked about upcoming 3-series/A4/C class size Jaguar. Infiniti will be presenting its Etherea conecpt which gives the Genevav audience a preview of how an upcoming compact Infiniti might look like. Nissan will also present an electric sports car featuring a mix of 370Z and GT-R styling cues and the Leaf's battery pack. And Geneva Motorshow would not be the Geneva Motorshow withous a Rinspeed concept. This year the Rinspee Bamboo is an electric powered retro-styled summer beach cruiser.

Click on the photo to start the Concept Gallery.

Audi A3 Sedan Concept Sketches

Audi pulled a quick one on the unsuspecting masses by revealing sketches of its Geneva bound A3 sedan concept on a Sunday. The A3 sedan will preview the styling of the upcoming A3 model range that as the concept indicates will be joined by a sedan for the first time. The next generation A3 will also be the first Audi to use the upcoming MQB modular platform. Powering the concept is a 408 horsepower 2.5 TFSI engine last seen in the fall on the quattro concept. A 340 horsepower version powers the current generation RS3 and TT-RS thus this concept is a good indication that the RS3 will continue into the next generation. The A3 sedan concept measures 174.8 inches in length thus splitting the difference in size between the current A3 Sportback and the A4. The sedan bodystyle will be paramount in the A3 picking up its sales in the USA. Take a look at the sketches below.