GENEVA MOTOR SHOW 2014

Although the 84th edition of the Geneva Motor Show didn't feature the unveiling of the hyper cars from McLaren and Ferrari that graced last year's show there was still plenty to be excited about from the world's manufacturers both large (Audi unveiling the S1, TTs and TT 420 concept) to the bespoke (Touring Superleggera Disco Volante).

With a show as large as Geneva it's always a challenge to decide where to start. But with the first hall featuring Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover it seemed like a good place to begin.

Mercedes took the opportunity to hold the European Premier of the new C class.. The C400 reflecting the front end established by the A class and the traditional saloon shape of the outgoing model. The display car wearing some aggressive AMG style wheels and a black roof in contrast to the white bodywork. Certainly a good looking car and it will be of great interest to see what AMG do once they get their hands on it. The remainder of the stand featured what seems like an increasingly modern range. The S Class seemed to be of particular interest to many of the show's visitors. Personally I was drawn to the clever A45 AMG exhibit which showed the car – which remains stunning in my view – alongside a working model of its certainly evolutionary if not revolutionary 2.0 litre turbo charged power plant. It seems amazing that an engine of that size can generate such an impressive output.

BMW occupied their usual place alongside Mercedes. Having been disappointed with their stand last year the difference in 2014 was instantly recognisable. The new M3 and M4 models looked stunning in Pantone Process Blue and Gold respectively. Opening up the bonnet gives access to a clearly muscular power unit – the first forced induction engine in the M3's history – partially restrained by a curved carbon brace. Inside the cabin, while maybe still not at the same standard as Audi, is a comfortable but clearly driver focused place. Showing more of a M performance theme than the previous year, the stand also featured the new M235i and a M435i showcasing a variety of M performance parts mainly carbon in material and certainly capable of adding an additional sporting element to the vehicle. Personally I am hugely looking forward to driving the M235i. Its 1 series equivalent was a corking car with an exciting, talkative engine and if anything the reviews of the 2 series are even more promising. The other item that drew my attention at BMW was the exciting and futuristic i8. Although already a feature at last years show this year's exhibit looked every bit ready for first deliveries to commence in June. The styling of the car looks absolutely right and the blue accented kidney style grill blends the technological elements with BMW's increasingly aggressive stance for their ranges. Unsurprisingly next door to the BMW stand was mini. I haven't been a fan of the direction the brand has been going with a range of larger and blockier cars distancing it from its heritage, however to my surprise the Clubman Concept was one of my stars of the show. The decision to have conventional clubman/ van style doors works well, the split panoramic sunroof is stylish yet effective and the blue-lit interior displayed the characteristic Mini 'cool'. If the concept carries over into production I reckon they have a winner on their hands.

Over the next two stands came the opportunity to celebrate British motoring heritage and style. The Jaguar Land Rover display featured a giant moving cinematic display but the stars were underneath it. The F Type took centre stage with both the coupe and convertible dazzling under the bright lights. I am still not sold on the convertible – I can recognise it is a beautiful car but for the money I would still look to Stuttgart for open top thrills. On the other hand the coupe is a work of art with seamlessly flowing curves and a beautiful finish through the rear light clusters. The v6S show car looked resplendent in white with dark cyclone wheels and yellow callipers. Having had the chance to drive one at a recent Harwoods event I can safely say the performance matches the stunning looks. Slightly strangely tucked into the corner of the stand was the XFR-S Sport brake, a 542hp 5.0L v8 estate car. Not only does it have the power credentials to match the epic Audi RS6 but if it handles anything like the saloon Ingolstadt should be very worried indeed. Across the aisle from Jaguar was one of the few marques that can challenge them for effortless 'cool'. Although Aston Martin are somewhat holding station while the partnership with Mercedes – AMG comes on line there was no denying that the current range continues to dazzle and delight. The recently announced N430 adds a racing edge to the v8 vantage upping the power and reducing the weight over the standard model. And in a race inspired green and yellow livery looked every bit the part for a blast around the Nurburgring. Also on display the carbon DB9 variants and a Vanquish Q edition reiterated the fact that Aston remain one of the world's great car builders.

Barely ten yards from Aston, the start of the Fiat empire came in the form of the almost equally elegant Maserati. With the Ghibli receiving solid reviews Geneva provided the trident marque with the opportunity to celebrate its centenary with the Alfieri a 2+2 GT concept. Apparently the concept could very well see production, which for me would be a no brainer. Potentially fitting in below the GranTurismo it would provide Maserati with a alternative to the 911 and the afore featured F Type.

For the second year running I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Ferrari stand. While there was no show stealing La Ferrari this year there was still plenty to be admired. The Speciale, a track focused version of the 458 looked even more stunning than the original model and with more power and less weight must be up there with the greatest Ferrari's of recent years if not all time. Geneva also saw the reveal of the new California T and a return to turbocharging for Ferrari for the first time in quarter of a century.

Perhaps slightly more down to earth the Abarth stand paid a tribute to its racing heritage with the 695 Biposto the fastest road legal version of the 500 to date. As most will realise the Biposto only features two seats – racing buckets – and has a number of other interesting adjustments to reduce the weight and improve that all important power to weight ratio. Alongside the Biposto was an original Abarth 500 owned by the 500 Torino Club Italia. Still in immaculate condition it was everything a true petrol head would crave. Continuing the sporting theme and leveraging off the interest created by the 4C coupe, Alfa used the show to preview the stunning and hopefully inevitable 4C Spider. Featuring all of the style that made the coupe so desirable the Spider ramps the cool factor up even further and thankfully does away with the slightly unusual headlight cluster of the coupe. From my perspective the short wheelbase of the car is even better suited to the spider than the coupe although either would be a welcome addition to the garage.

Before moving on from the rapidly growing Fiat brand expansion it seems worth providing a contrast to the little 500 Abarth from the Jeep stand. Towards the back of the stand the Wrangler Rubicon 4×4 looked like a great, rugged off roader with enough features and appeal to generate some solid sales numbers.

Before heading back to the European manufacturers it was worth pausing on both the US and Asian contingent. From the latter there were three real standouts coming from markedly different companies. Originally unveiled in Detroit the Kia GT4 Stinger concept continued the huge strides that the manufacturer has made. Going back a few years who would have thought Kia would be unveiling a 300hp+ rear wheel drive sportster. Lets hope it makes it into their range in the near future. One of the real pleasures of the show over the last two years has been the indication of resurgence in the possibility of exciting cars once again inhabiting the Honda range. Last year the NSX showcased Honda's sports car future while 2014 sees the return of the Honda Civic Type R a 276hp rival to the Golf R and Ford Focus RS. The concept looked absolutely stunning in a great orange paint job with plenty of menace supplied by the aero package and low profile sticky tyres. The final stand out came from Lexus with the RC F that blends the brands new design language with a monster 5.0L engine capable of delivering in excess of 450hp. The vehicle's large front grill forms a focal point with huge air intakes sitting either side while the rear quad exhausts are interestingly arranged around the rear diffuser.

There were also a small number of standouts from US manufacturers. Ford took the opportunity to introduce the 2015 Mustang in both coupe and convertible forms. The front end represents an attractive blend of the traditional Mustang shape with new technology including the vertical DRLs and the aerodynamically shaped bumper. While the convertible was presented in a rather uninteresting grey the bright yellow coupe with colour coded wing mirrors looked brilliant. However I still find it strange that Ford continues to offer a 2.3L EcoBoost engine alongside the 5.0L v8, which is surely going to be the popular option. Continuing the theme of re-engineering classic muscle cars the Challenger made more of a subtle but no less powerful (5.7L v8) impression. Staying with the US muscle theme, another car making its European debut was the latest iteration of the Corvette the Z06. Featured in both standard and track guises it cut a splendid sight in bright yellow. Not only is the Z06 a powerhouse but Chevrolet have clearly spent time on its looks with some nice styling (not to mention performance) touches including air intakes behind the front wheels, a sculpted front end and flared wheel arches. I also liked the way the side skirts added an element of sharpness in the roll of the doors. If the increased focus on handling brings a more dynamic car then the Z06 could be every bit a success both sides of the Atlantic.

Returning to matters closer to home and no report on Geneva would be complete without a mention of the output from the giant VW group. As I observed last year the sheer scale of the presence of the group's brands easily out muscled any other manufacturer and reflected the importance of producing quality vehicles that appeal to all aspects of the car buying public. At the high end Porsche and Lamborghini brought different angles to their activities. Porsche while maintaining the momentum enjoyed by the 911, Cayman and Boxster were clearly keen on pushing their junior SUV the Macan. To me this has the potential to be an even bigger success than the Cayenne and cement the company's ability to continue to build exciting driver focused sports cars at the other end of their range. Not only does the Macan look good (much less the 911 on stilts of the Cayenne) but road tests seem to suggest it behaves more like a Cayman than it does its big brother. Away from the road cars Porsche also unveiled its Le Mans prototype. Simply if it goes half as well as it looks it will given Audi a run for its money at La Sarthe.

Staying with Le Mans the show also dedicated hall space to a celebration of some of the vehicles that have won at La Sarthe. Alongside the number two Audi piloted by McNish, Kristensen and Duval, which took the top spot in 2013, was an array of classic machinery including the rotary Mazda, the Peugeot 908 and as expected a number of representatives from Porsche including the 911 GT1 also piloted to victory by McNish.

Porsche's stand was positioned in the middle of the offerings from Lamborghini and Audi. Turning to the former it was almost disappointing that the focus of the stand was the Huracan given its, in my view, relative simplicity compared with the mildly crazy Veneno that was showcased last year. I appreciate that both are miles apart in terms of the aims for Lamborghini for their cars but even in lime green the Huracan just didn't quite stand out from the remaining supercar crowd quite how I think they should. With Audi you really have no such expectations. You know they will build good looking, well-tailored cars at a premium price point but that they are just as happy selling 2.0L diesel A3s than RS4s or RS6s. Still their stand still showed more ambition than many. I particularly liked the link between the electric blue RS2 and the current generation RS4. It does remind you however what a truly epic car the RS2 was. The highlight area was given over to two 'S' cars, the recently announced S1 which provides Audi with an entry, albeit an expensive one, into the hot hatch market. I really like the idea of the S1 but can't help but have two gripes with it. Firstly it just doesn't work for me in the same way the A1 Quattro did which leads me to the second reason, that the evolving design language is just a bit in your face and over the top. On the larger models in the range I don't think this matters as much but the S1 front end does seem to be all grill and little else. I had the same concern about the new TTS from the pre-show pictures. However surprisingly enough in the flesh I think this works a lot better than I initially thought. The styling of the area around the front air intakes also works well, nicely broken up by horizontal styling bars linked into the grill bars. As usual the DRLs remain a feature and align well with the bodylines of the car as it sweeps towards a rear that doesn't appear to be a radical departure from the second-generation car. Audi also gave a glimpse of what the TTRS could look like with the TT Quattro sport concept with a much more aggressive front end and bulging arches.

Only one other manufacturer makes it into this report ahead of my 'Car of the Show' reveal. It would be unfair not to mention McLaren who unveiled the forth member of their range, the 650S – a supercar capable of 207mph and completing the 0-62 sprint in 3 seconds. Most of the work over the MP4-12C has been done at the front end where the 650S more closely resembles the P1. Its fair to say that although maybe lacking the charisma of some of their Italian rivals McLaren have a range any manufacturer or car fanatic would be envious of. The stand also features a silver version of last year's show stealer the P1. I have to say that it looks even better in this colour scheme than the orange version.

One of the final stops of the day also yielded my Car of the Show. Amazingly many were bypassing Touring Superleggera on their way to Pagani, Bugatti or Koenigsegg. While the three all were well worth a visit particularly to see latter's One:1 which while not only being a stunning hypercar was also the show exhibit that most resembled a Transformer. Admittedly an incredible feat of engineering. Which brings me back to the coachbuilder Touring who have taken an Alfa 8C and turned it into one of the most desirable cars on the planet the Disco Volante (Flying Saucer). The show model was decked out in green and gold and potentially looked even better than the red version featured recently on Top Gear. The attention to detail is sublime with each contour flowing beautiful with the rest of the vehicle. On enquiry the sad news came back that all 8 made have already been sold. Not only have those lucky people got one of the most desirable cars of recent times but also something that will no doubt prove a superb investment in years to come.

With the visions of so many new and exciting vehicles still firmly in the forefront of my thoughts the Geneva Motor Show had once again reaffirmed that we are in a golden age for the industry where mainstream and bespoke manufacturers push forward the technological and stylistic agendas for all to enjoy.