2016 Geneva Motorshow

If there was anything green about this year’s 68th edition of the legendary motor show held in Europe’s financial capital, it was the smell of dollars emanating from the fantasy projects brought here by the world’s biggest carmakers and smallest automotive boutiques alike. After the hoards of journalists fight for photos and motorshow swag, the world’s wealthiest show up, looking for the flashiest ways of manifesting their fortunes and satiating their hunger for thrills when that third Veyron in the garage doesn’t do it anymore.

This time, everyone received a welcome surprise. After years of political correctness and putting bland, electric world-savers on pedestals, interest in CO2 emissions and energy ratings were ousted by horsepower and glamour. Volkswagen Group arrived with arguably the most joyful and carefree lineup of all the exhibitors. With its multiple European brands, VW Group gave the world the long-awaited Bugatti Veyron successor, the 1,500hp Chiron, the refreshed Bentley Mulsanne (now available in Extended version and the Even More Extended, Mulsanne Grand Limousine), and the new limited production Lamborghini Centenario with a cool $1.95 million price tag. Even the Volkswagen brand stage was dominated by the reality-neglecting convertible crossover called T-Cross Breeze. It is still in the concept stage but poses a real threat to the niche-inventing Range Rover Evoque Convertible (premiered 400 yards away).

The mass-market-makers didn’t make as big a splash, but there were a few standouts: The promising new Abarth 124 Spider delivers the Italian passion missing in the base Fiat 124, the sexy Alfa Romeo Giulia in volume-spec proves it has more to offer than just the power and carbon fiber of the exotic Quadrifoglio; the Ikea-friendly Volvo V90 wagon based on the XC90’s massive success and the polished Benz C-class now coming in convertible and C43 AMG guises. It was the supercar pantheon that staged the comeback with some ultimate developments of cars deemed impossible to improve. There was a new Ferrari (with another overcomplicated name, GTC4 Lusso), a couple of new Porsches (one to please enthusiasts, the 911 R, and one to fuel purist-rage, the four-cylinder Boxster), and a new McLaren (a lovely 570 now smoothened to a 570GT). Jaguar tried its hand at making the F-type even more muscular and fearsome, creating the F-type SVR, while the renascent Lotus did the same trick to its Evora, Exige, and Elise. And you just couldn’t deny the historical significance of the premiere of the beefed-up Pagani Huayra BC, the last car that needed more power or a more excessive design.