Geneva’s Best Concepts - 2010 Geneva Auto Show

What’s headed our way? What’s not?

By Matt DeLorenzo / Photos by John Lamm

From http://www.roadandtrack.com/

Auto show concept cars can be either futuristic ideas that never will see a production line or thinly disguised versions of cars you can buy within months at your local dealer. This year’s concepts at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show tend more toward the fantastic, although there might be something in the cards for future fans of a particular Italian make.

Alfa Romeo Pandion concept
This edgy 2+2 from Bertone is one of two concepts that honor Alfa Romeo’s 100th birthday. The large glass roof and swoopy shape recall another of this year’s hot concepts, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, which bowed last fall at Frankfurt.
The Pandion also showcases unique scissor-style doors that are hinged at the rear and swing up and toward the back of the vehicle. Based on a shorted Alfa Romeo 8C platform, the rear-drive Pandion is powered by a 444-bhp V-8.

Italdesign Giugiaro/Proton Emas Comfort and Country Concepts
The Turin-based design house headed by Giorgetto Giugiaro introduced a two-vehicle family of small cars for Malaysian automaker Proton. The 5 Porte (5 Door) and Country feature a hybrid powerplant that includes a 1.2-liter 3-cylinder engine that recharges a lithium-polymer battery pack for these front- and all-wheel-drive vehicles. The 5-door seats four, while the Country, which has only three doors, seats five. Egress isn’t a problem in the Country, which has no pillars and doors that are 52 in. long. Both vehicles are only 140 in. long, yet they offer the interior spaciousness of a midsize sedan.

Opel Flextreme GT/E
The purpose of the Opel Flextreme GT/E is to demonstrate that the extended range EV technology being used in the Chevrolet Volt can be adapted to a larger vehicle. The Flextreme is the size of a more traditional midsize station wagon, yet it offers nearly 40 miles in pure electric range from its plug-in lithium-ion battery pack. The vehicle can travel an additional 300 miles thanks to the 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine that is used as a generator to drive the car’s electric motor. The 5-passenger Flextreme GT/E sports a sleek exterior with a drag coefficient of just 0.22, which undoubtedly helps the car reach its healthy top speed of 125 mph.

I.DE.A. Sofia
This handsome 4-passenger sedan is intended to not only showcase the design talents of the I.DE.A Institute, but also to demonstrate that there is a market for good-looking hybrid-powered luxury cars. The Sofia is built on a chassis that was an earlier engineering study for the institute, and beneath its sexy shape is a 400-bhp V-8. The battery-electric powertrain produces an extra 100 horses. I.DE.A. is looking at shopping the design around to automakers globally. It could provide some competition for the likes of the Fisker Karma, which is slated to bow later this year.

Pininfarina Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept
This simple 2-seat spider designed by Pininfarina serves several purposes, the first of which is to commemorate the 80 years of cooperation between the design house and Alfa. The second is to mark the Milan-based automaker’s centennial. But it’s more than that; the 2uettotanta plays on the heritage of the Alfa Romeo Duetto, that sexy 2-seater driven by Dustin Hoffman in the seminal coming of age film, The Graduate. Like the Duetto, this new age concept is rear drive and powered by a 1750 cc 4-cylinder engine, although this time the powerplant is turbocharged. This car points to the next-generation Alfa Spider, which switches from front-drive to rear-drive and is said to be part of Alfa Romeo’s lineup when it returns to the U.S., perhaps as early as 2012.

Porsche 918 Spyder
In perhaps the biggest surprise at Geneva, Porsche pulled the covers off the stunning 2-seat 918 Spyder, a supercar that can get 78 mpg, says the Stuttgart company. Aided by a lightweight carbon chassis, the 3285-lb. 918 Concept hits 62 mph in less than 3.2 seconds, and has a top speed of 198 mph. A mid-mounted V-8 with more than 500 bhp is largely responsible for this, fortified by front and rear electric motors that add an extra 218 hp to the car’s propulsion. With a pure electric mode and even a rear-biased race mode, the 918, though only a concept, has real production possibilities. One recently lapped the Nürburgring track in Germany in less than 7 minutes 30 seconds, proving a hybrid sports car does indeed have a role in the company’s future.

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