Seeing no-one on the stand, we jumped at Ferrari’s to finally be able to get a deeper look on Frankfurt’s automotive superstar everyone was waiting for: the 458 Speciale. I really never liked the 458’s design, so the Speciale version doesn’t really change the situation, as it is a lightweight, more hardcore version of the standard 458 Italia. What I really appreciated though in the standard car is the superb engine and futuristically fast gearbox. Let’s hope the more powerful 605 horsepower 4.5-litre V8 engine is even better, and that the global behaviour has finally got that hardcore feeling that was missing on the Italia.
Along the 458 Speciale, Ferrari had brought a F12, a 458 Spider, and an FF but what caught our attention was the beautiful pearl-white California with chocolate interior and exterior-white matching stitching. I had seen once a Maserati GranTurismo Convertible with a similar configuration and since it is in my opinion one of the best colour configurations you should order and could have on a convertible.
Moving to Aston Martin, it is always a pleasure to take a closer look to these cars although we are a bit used to them. The Rapide S was displayed in a strange but original green exterior colour with a standard full black leather interior. This updated version of the Rapide has inherited dual variable camshaft and exhaust system of the Vanquish so it develops now 570 horsepower. The new front grille gives it a more distinguished look from the (so-called, but previously Virage) DB9. The point is, putting their most powerful engine was certainly a good idea to keep up with its competitors like the Porsche Panamera, or the new Maserati Quattroporte GTS, but the british brand has not solved yet the Rapide’s biggest problem: the rear seating space. Indeed it does slow sales in important new market such as China where people are fond of extra long wheelbase version of standard cars for bigger space in the back.
Although the V8 Vantage’s design is now 10 years old, from the AMV8 Concept back in 2003, it hasn’t lost any of its charm, and seems completely out of time just as gorgeous, as classy and elegant that it was 10 years ago. So it isn’t a surprise Aston Martin wants to keep this beautiful shape around for as long as possible. The chassis surely feels a bit old compared to its modern competitors, like the 911 Carrera 991, and you might be wondering why you should by a V8 Vantage when there’s the Jaguar F-Type, that looks as good, drives better, and sounds as good or even better. Well Aston says you should because it’s an Aston, and James Bond doesn’t yet drive a Jag.
The good news from Aston Martin wasn’t the one I was expecting and came when they (finally) announced that they were stopping the production of the awful Cygnet, that baby Toyota iQ with three leather straps that Aston was selling to whoever wanted one. Originally, their plans was to produce 2000 of these each year but since its apparition back in 2011, they only sold 153 of them. So rather interestingly this is one little rare Aston Martin, and maybe, but I doubt it really, it will become an Aston’s collector car essentials. The bad news though, was the V12 Vantage S which had been revealed a few weeks earlier. By putting the horrible automatic sequential gearbox in the mighty V12 Vantage, Aston has simply, and purely ruined it in my opinion.
The V12 Vantage was the perfect car combination between their GT cars, like the DBS or the Vanquish but combined with the shorter chassis and the proper manual gearbox, the result was absolutely stunning, giving the car a very unexpected manly sports car feeling. By putting their flappy paddles combined with the Vanquish engine, Aston Martin engineers has just changed all these principles, and ripped off the sports car in the V12 Vantage, turning it into a better Vanquish, and that’s it. The presentation car was as dreadful as the idea, with its yellow bright exterior, the comfort seats, and the black leather with matching yellow stitching. Sorry for being so harsh on the V12 Vantage S, but as a passionate of the first V12, and family owner of one, I can’t really be rational on that car…
