The Best Paris Motor Show Live Reveals: What You Might Have Missed

The Paris Motor Show press days have wrapped up, but if you missed some of last week's live coverage, here are some of the most trafficked posts from the show along with a couple more we added earlier today. Be sure to visit the full posts where you'll find more pictures, press releases and analysis. More »

Best Mini Crossover Shots Yet From Paris Show Floor

Ben smuggled back a couple gigs of additional images from the Paris Motor Show last week, including these shots inside and out of the Mini Crossover Concept. We got a live look at the diminutive soft-roader last week during the show, but these images give you quite a bit more detail, particularly of the laser globe center stack thingamajig. The whole car has kind of a split personality: It's the biggest Mini yet actually appears, from certain angles, more true to the original Mini than the regular version of the car. We'll see what the results are should they make it into showrooms. Press release reproduced after the jump. More »

2009 Mitsubishi Colt Finds Family Resemblance On Paris Show Floor

The 2009 Mitsubishi Colt is being brought in line with the rest of the Mitsubishi lineup, style-wise. You’ve probably already spotted the biggest new feature: the Lancer-style gaping front grille. While it makes the four-door somewhat confused-looking, that grille really sharpens up the three-door, especially in Ralliart guise. Three engines are offered: a 1.1-liter with 75 HP, a 1.3–liter with 95 HP and a 1.5 with 109 HP. The Ralliart adds a turbocharger to that 1.5 for 150 HP, making it a seriously interesting proposition for lovers of small, quick cars like us. The previous generation 1.1 was a hoot to drive, delivering extreme practicality from its flexible interior and huge character from its three-cylinder engine. Let’s hope this new model delivers more of the same. More »

Tang Hua XY08 Chika, An Electric Car For The Ladies Of Paris

Tang Hua rocked our socks off with a trio of banana-yellow (and banana-shaped) concepts at the Detroit Auto Show, and they have followed up at the Paris Motor Show with this gorgeous sapphire blue semi-circular masterpiece dubbed the Tang Hua XY08 Chika. The Chika is yet another all-electric car featuring crushing performance from its massive four kilowatt electric motor (5.36 HP) and automatic transmission. Hold onto your hats: This baby does 31 MPH and will get you anywhere within 93 miles. Wait, that's actually not too bad for an e-car...well, if you discount the whole "fiery death in a crumpled heap of thermoformed polycarbonate" aspect. More »

Joule MPV Brings South African Engineering To Paris Show Floor

We brought you word of the Joule all-electric MPV yesterday, a South African entrant in the new electric car wars, and now we have live shots of the Joule on the Paris show floor. The little Afrikaaner is produced by a new tech company called Optimal Energy and was designed by a former Jag stylist — though we're going to have to take their word for it. According to Optimal, the Joule is all-electric with motor-driven front wheels and in-wheel magnetic propulsion at the rear, delivering a range of 125 miles on a single battery pack or 250 miles with two — impressive. We also like how Joule is a play on South Africa's notorious blood-diamond trade as well as a reference to energy — if you can't make fun of yourself, who can you make fun of? Presser after the jump. More »

Kia Soul Hybrid Rejects Parisian Subtelty During Live Show Reveal

Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish a clean, green Hybrid model from its dirty, polluting counterparts. Thankfully, Kia’s designers have seen fit to equip the Kia Soul Hybrid with subtle hybrid badges to alert consumers to the presence of its 1.6-liter gasoline engine mated to a 180 volt, 5.3Ah lithium polymer battery pack and the 48 MPG figure the combination is capable of. It looks like this is actually going to be a production model, just one that’s been gussied up for the show floor with a clear polycarbonate hood and underfloor, revealing both the powertrain and battery pack. The Hybrid also debuts the full-length retractable canvas roof that will be optional across the Soul range. We’ll let you digest the rest of the facts and figures, but we’re finding the Soul increasingly appealing, even with over-the-top badges. More »

Heuliez Raises Bar On Electric Car Weirdness In Paris With "Friendly" Threesome

Meet the Heuliez Friendly, the Heuliez Pondicherry and the Heuliez... uh, Electric Dump Truck Scooter? Okay, we don't know the name of the last one, we just made that up, but all three are cool as hell for pocket sized electric cars. The Friendly contains more standard weirdness than any run of the mill Citroen could ever dream of, note the McLaren F1-inspired center seating and dual sliding doors — take that McLaren. Check out the wooden load floor on the camino-like Pondicherry — reminds us of our '51 Chevy 3100. These things are so cool, we might slip one in each pocket and try to smuggle them past customs on the way home. More »

BMW Concept X1 Shows Paris Visitors BMW's Continued Crossover Obsession

BMW's latest — and smallest — new crossover concept is the BMW X1, seen here on the floor yesterday at the Paris Auto Show. It looks a little more robust in person than when we saw leaked press shots earlier in the week, but it's still hard to get excited about another crossover, particularly one that looks, and is bound to drive, like the underwhelming X3 we already have, only with less room. If BMW had managed to turn the potential of the 1-series into reality, we might be singing a different tune. They didn't, so we aren't. Press release after the jump. More »

Chevy Orlando Concept Unveiled In Paris, Shows What Pontiac Aztek Could Have Been

Yeah, we said it: The Chevy Orlando Concept shown here on the Paris Auto Show floor is the spiritual successor to the Pontiac Aztek. And in this case, we mean that as a complement: The Aztek had a ton of great interior features going for it, and the Chevy Orlando takes that post-minivan people-mover spirit and wraps it in sharp-looking sheet metal. The Orlando seats seven, has five doors and is based on the Cruze platform, meaning it has a shot at actually being really fuel-efficient, particularly with its Euro 2-liter diesel. We're not sure how much fun it would be hauling seven folks around with a 1.4-liter turbo motor here in the states, though, so it'll be interesting to see how — and if — it evolves for our market. More »

Lada Reveals A Supercar Concept! Wait, What?

Everyone's favorite communist-era carmaker and automotive laughing-stock on safety has just revealed a supercar concept here at the Paris Motor Show. Best part? It's called the Lada Revolution 3. Apparently the first two must have had something to do with forcing the Bolsheviks from power. Anyway, it's theoretically equipped with a Renault two-liter four cylinder able to make a 0-to-62 run in 5.9 seconds with a top end speed of 155 MPH. Stopping is done via two-piece 315 mm rotors and four-piston calipers. This would be the fastest Lada ever built, which begs a question. Would you really feel comfortable cruising Russia's roadways at 155 MPH in this Supercar? There's just something about a supercar with a Renault engine and the Lada name proudly emblazoned on the steering wheel that makes us shudder at the thought. Hold onto your buttskies, folks! Hit the jump to see how it would fit in with the rest of the Lada lineup. More »

Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Concept Drops Top Live In Paris

Squint just right and you’ll be able to see what the Saab 9-1 will look like. The Saab 9-X Air seeks to interpret traditional design cues into a more modern, smaller package that will be both fun to drive, uniquely luxurious and economical. The most successful par of the vehicle isn’t its proposed 1.4-liter turbocharged bioethanol hybrid powertrain, but its seriously nice interior, which does a great drop of adapting strikingly contemporary design themes into a friendly, welcoming package. It’s light years ahead of the plasticy, cheap interiors offered in the current models. Please Saab, find a way to bring something like this to market. Full details follow in the remarkably straight-forward press release, just ignore that whole fake “born from jets” thing. More »

Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION Bows In Paris, Still Mildly Fascinating

The Mercedes ConceptFASCINATION, just revealed at the Paris Motor Show, must be a concept, because a Benz shootingbrake is just too freaking awesome to see production. Those who like the overall design need not worry, according to Mercedes officials, it's a preview of the 2010 Mercedes E-Class. In the meantime, enjoy the fanciful exterior and see how it matches up to the fanciful interior of this sleek concept. Full press release after the jump. More »