Switzerland is a sedate, ordered country. The Swiss don’t take kindly to hooray Henrys roaring along the roads – Sunday drivers are encouraged. However, once a year, the country becomes a mecca for petrolheads. The Geneva Motor Show is one of the highlights of the motoring calendar and the fruit of this year’s show has been particularly juicy. Start saving.
Bugatti Chiron
The Veyron’s old hat. Let’s repeat that: the Veyron’s old hat. And there’s only one car that could make it so – a new Bugatti. The Chiron takes the Veyron’s devastating abilities and builds on them: it produces 1,500 horsepower; its top speed is limited (limited!) to 261mph; it looks like the Devil in Italian couture. Christ, we want one. (Related: This year’s most breathtaking cars)
Maserati Levante
Do you lust after the Quattroporte (we do) but need something suitable for weekend shooting parties? Maserati have answered your prayers. With more than a touch of the Porsche Cayenne in its DNA, the Levante has been given a Mediterranean makeover courtesy of that oversized Maserati grill and, inside, silk from the Zegna mill. It won’t be the fastest 4×4 in the field or, at £54k and with a rather low profile, something you ever actually take into a field. But when it looks like this, who cares?
Abarth 124 Spider
We waxed lyrical about the 124 a while back, and now Fiat has given the car to their tuning arm, we’re even more in love. Abarth takes standard Fiats and make them a little unhinged, which here means stuffing another 30bhp under the bonnet, jettisoning a bunch off the ballast and adding in a Record Monza exhaust system that makes a car under £30k sound like it’s got an extra zero on its price tag. It’s big brother, the 500 Abarth, goes like Usain Bolt fleeing a house fire. We suspect the Spider will be even quicker.
Volvo V90
A Volvo estate, in this company? Well, Volvo’s output keeps getting sleeker and sharper – an overhauled approach to design that the V90 embodies. So the new V90 is certainly no phone box on wheels; it’s a handsome beast and Volvo’s upped the luxury stakes of late, which means it’s going to be very well appointed. Either way, it’s a distance from the Volvo your dad used to drive.
Koenigsegg Regera
Of course, the Swedes also produce less practical cars. The road-ready Regera takes last year’s concept model and trims the fat, meaning a kerb weight of just 1590kg. Koenigsegg has then stuck in a 1085bhp engine, deemed that not to be enough, and added a trio of electric motors to give a combined output of 1479bhp. That translates as 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 249mph, which you’ll reach in just 20 seconds. Oh, and it’s got a WiFi hotspot. So you can Snapchat your demise in a ball of fire.
Lamborghini Centenario
If you were perusing this list for something to buy with that £1.64m you found in your spare blazer, then bad news – the Centenario, built to celebrate Ferruccio Lamborghini’s 100th birthday, has already sold out. Which means you’ll never get to experience how those 40 models grunt, courtesy of a V12 engine that offers 759bhp. Or how it generates so much downforce you could probably drive it upside down. Or how it launches to 62mph in 2.8 seconds, leaving your lunch all over the carbon fibre interior. Maybe next time.
