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You can read about cars such as the XKR, new Freelander, MX-5 CC, Civic Type-R and fresh Corsa in any other review of the Show, which is why I prefer to focus on the things nobody else does. The problem is that because of the outrageous cost of putting on a stand it's really only the big boys who can afford to exhibit. That's why the surprises were few and far between.
One of the few exceptions was a supercar that its makers claim could overshadow the mighty Veyron. Hmm . . . we'll have to see about that one. The Barabus (pictured above) "uses drag racing technology" to offer 1200bhp and a top speed on the far side of 200mph. For a mere 300 big ones you could have one of these carbonfibre wonders - but correct me if I'm wrong; don't you have to rebuild a drag racing engine after every run? Apparently the car's name is taken from the Bible, probably because every time another wildly optimistic claim is trotted out by the company's staff, the response is yet another blasphemous comment. Another car I wasn't expecting was the NICE, or No Internal Combustion Engine. The opposite of the Barrowbus already mentioned, this electric microcar comes from France (it's part of the Aixam Group) and for £10,000 you'll be able to have a two-seater shopping trolley that's exempt from the congestion charge and costs pennies to run, allegedly. Shame it looks like the CAM kicked in before the CAD was through - and if you thought the plastics in the Lada Riva were below par, they were Lexus-like compared with those offered in the not-so-NICE.
Stray outside to the BMW Group's displays and you'd see that those wacky guys and gals at MINI have been smoking illicit substances (once more, allegedly). They'd dressed up a piano, a shed and a lawnmower (pictured above) as MINIs, and my how we all laughed. Nearly as much as when we saw the Connaught V10 (pictured below) which appeared to have been shunted very heavily up the rear. This was the first time I'd seen this car, and while it's a fascinating project, the proportions are so far from appealing that it's hard to see how any mere facelift will ever save the day.
The Connaught was in one of the two supercar paddocks inside, which also contained numerous Ferraris, a McLaren F1, a Bristol Fighter and masses more achingly fast and pricey exotics. Also in there was the Caparo T1, which makes the F1 look as dynamic as a pram and may just take over where the McLaren left off in terms of being an ultra-exclusive hyper-quick car. Or it might just disappear into obscurity before the year is out.
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