Cars, cars, cars

Having never gone to a Salon de L’Automobile before last Sat, I wasn’t expecting much when we set out. I certainly never expected to like it, but at the end I quite liked it and was happy to have experienced it. There was a peculiar ambiance to the Salon that I imagine comes from the predominantly male crowd (though with a good smattering of women), excited as children at the prospect of seeing so many cars. I’m sure that the Freudians among us, would have a lot to say about boys and their cars, but that’s neither here nor there. Here in the Salon, the cars were the stars. I daresay that most of the major players in the industry were in attendance, with the French brands taking the prominent spots in the middle of the first hall we entered. To be sure the cars that drew the most people were those with mythical names like Ferrari, Lamborghini and the classic heavyweights like the Bentley and the Rolls. To get a gander at these beauties, you had patiently wait your turn as the tide of people surged and ebbed forward depending on whether the person in front of the queue had had his fill and had taken his proper number of pictures. Despite myself, I found myself marveling at the cars that filled the hall. They were in a word—impressive. Never much one with a good head for car names (I still confuse the Ferrari and the Porsche), I was nonetheless impressed at these obviously well designed, and even beautifully constructed, examples of human ingenuity. Nowhere was this more evident than in the different brands’ concept cars. They were singular objects of beauty. You can’t help but be impressed even if you can’t quite figure out what makes them so special. And you can see all too clearly here what makes men dream when they look at cars. One can perfectly imagine that these cars can drive themselves, without need for the human touch. Some of the cars were awesome by the dint of their sheer size. I mean, one of the Bentley models had such a massive front, that it looked a bit predator like, but that’s just my humble opinion.

Others awed because of the sleekness of their lines. I never realized before how sleek and fast a Lamborghini could look


Or that a Ferrari could look as impressive as it actually does, when you're up close and personal with it..

Some of the others were humbler in size but no less impressive because of the way they were constructed to be a little more kind to the environment. Given the recent natural disasters we’ve all been on the receiving end of, this development in car technology is a good thing. One car called the Novu by Toyota looked like it came from Pixar or Dreamworks. I half expected it to start talking to me. Another car I liked was the GM Volt. Its name reminded me of a childhood cartoon series I used to love called Voltes V, and for a minute there, I could imagine the car transforming itself, but that’s another story altogether! Going back to the GM Volt, it is sleek and is one of the first electric cars that will be mass produced and marketed. Its literally plug and go. Well okay, it takes three hours to charge but its by no means a push over car. It can go as fast as 160 km per hour, which is not bad at all. And as far as looks go, it’s a darn sight better looking than the Prius and if it does what it sets out to do, could prove to be a real alternative.

the GM Volt

The Audi coupe...you can just see me in it right?

From the Salon du Vintage to the Salon de L’Automobile, there sure are an awful lot of great things going on in the city. Its almost a shame for the weekend to end and go back to work.