It's the most wonderful time of the year. Yes. You're quivering with excitement for a reason: It's officially auto show season. Here's what you need to be ready to salivate over at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Last season on Auto Show Redux, it was the year of the supercar. Paris saw the debut of the McLaren P1 and the tub of the LaFerrari, Geneva saw the LaFerrari come to life, and the Porsche 918 made the rounds in various concept forms, although they all basically looked the same.
Frankfurt seems like it will be a melange of different automotive flavors brought together under one roof. While we do see surprises from time-to-time, we also have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the big dogs. The show starts tomorrow, and you can follow along on our Frankfurt Motor Show tag page as well as on our live blog as it happens. For now, here's everything we know we'll be gawking at when the show opens.
Porsche will finally take the wraps off the final production version of the 918, a car that has been spied on the roads so much testing that you'd think it were as common as a Toyota Corolla. Don't expect anything to change from what you've seen thus far, it's just an excuse to show it again, not that we're complaining.
Ferrari will have the 458 Speciale, a collaboration between their performance department and department for creative naming. It has 605 horsepower, active aero, and a cool little stripe that looks like the Finnish flag. Kimi Raikkonen is rumored to be announced as a new driver for Ferrari this week, is that why? Probably not. But maybe.
Jag, who stole the show in Paris last year with the F-Type and in New York with the XJR, are looking to do the same again with the drop dead lickable C-X17 crossover concept. I thought they forgot they owned Land Rover, but they did not. The C-X17 will be for high riding on road antics, while Land Rovers will still do the dirty work.
BMW will have the extended range electric i8, which is like some sort of mutant supercar/city car offspring from a Minority Report like future that I thought would never come. You've seen the i8 concepts at basically every show for the last three decades, so this won't be that surprising either. There will also be the Alpina D3 Biturbo, a diesel wagon we can only dream of.
Mercedes will show the S-Class Coupe concept, aka the artist formerly known as the CL. This will be another of those narrowly disguised concepts, so thin mirrors, huge wheels, and probably an outlandish powertrain that runs on barnacles and parchment touched by Ben Franklin. Or a hybrid. One of the two.
They'll also have the Smart FourJoy, which is far too hip for me to understand.
As the last of the home turf automakers, Audi will have two things (cars?) to show us. First is the A3/S3 cabrio, which is exactly what it sounds like. The S3 will boast 300 horsepower, or perhaps it won't boast but will politely tell you about it. They will also have the Sport quattro Hybrid concept, a 700 horsepower hybrid that weighs 4,000 pounds, or about 1,000 pounds too much. Has Audi lost that mojo it's had for quite a while now?
Bentley will have the Continental GT V8 S, which is like the Continental GT V8 but sportier and powerfulier, but not more powerful than the W12 because that would be a problem and rich people everywhere would be decadently pissed.
Rounding out the VW Group portfolio is the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse 'Jean Bugatti,' a special edition with the longest name I can remember and black paint. And not much else...
Lexus has a vision for the future of its crossovers in the LF-NX, which could probably stand to be a little more overstyled. Oh, and the grille is tiny. Make that bigger, how are those batteries supposed to breathe??!!
Parent company Toyota went all bonkers with the Yaris Hybrid-R, a 420 horsepower hybrid Yaris that sounds like something we'd all like to own.
Our Swedish friends at Volvo will have their lovely Coupe concept as well as a new XC90, the first new XC90 since it came out 10 years ago. The overly shadowy pictures we've seen look promising.
Cute little Italian brand Fiat which you know and love for only selling us cars called the 500 has the 500 595 Abarth, a car we won't get on our shores. But that's a good thing because it doesn't have a clutch pedal and that is apparently enough to start a giant riot by third pedal enthusiasts. It'll be ok folks. You'll live to heel toe another day.
Infiniti will have the Q30, which is a little hatchback thing with a lot of swoops and lines and shizzle. Think of the Q30 as smaller than the Q50 and the non-existent Q40. It would also be larger than the Q20, Q10, and the inevitable Q00.
And there you have it, everything you need to see. Now watch, Ferrari will unveil a crossover tomorrow and say that it has always been in their DNA. Just you wait.