You just know that flat screens with icons in a grid are the zeitgeist when even a carmaker’s display screen looks like an iPhone.

You’ve seen the unveiling. You’ve read that it’s going digital. What you haven’t seen was the sheer excitement on the scene in Frankfurt when Mercedes–Benz revealed the SLS AMG.

First the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS hitting 180 MPH on the way to the show, then the 911 Turbo Convertible gets hooned in the rain afterwards. We're liking Porsche's focus on actually driving their show cars.

Memo to Renault: Everyone at car shows stops caring after your second electric car. Example? Your Renault Kangoo ZE. Yes, we know ya worked hard on them all, but save some for later. Also, turn on the lights.

The VW L1 is 3/4 of the way towards VW's goal of a 200 MPG production car. None of these creepy European journalists care. They just want to watch her get out of it.

Everyone else is reimagining their beloved older cars, and now Citroen has jumped on the bandwagon. It's too bad they didn't realize part of the appeal of the 2CV was that it didn't look like futuristic swine.

What we thought was an electric minivan is in fact a quiet little "3+1" city car. What we believed to be an 82-horsepower zero emissions concept was just that. Volkswagen says it's the Beetle of the future; we're thinking Polo.

They're calling the wheel fairings on the 2010 Brabus E V12 "Speed Spads." Don't laugh too hard, with 800 HP and 1047 Lb-Ft, it'll rub dirt in your face all the way to 230 MPH.

We get it Renault, we really do. You're "green," you're "eco-friendly," just please, never four electric cars at one show ever again. Even if this particular example, the Renault Fluence ZE, is actually attractive.

The Lexus LF-Ch comes with tiny mirrors, flashy paint and hybrid drive system you'd expect from a concept. But don't dismiss it, this is Lexus taking direct aim at the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series.

The Peugeot RCZ is a nice enough coupé for your inner Carla Bruni, but even prettier than the splendide new Pug was the high-tech water show behind the rotating platform the RCZ was displayed on. Click for video!

Unlike the 2012 Grand C-Max, its smaller brother, the new five-passenger Ford Focus-based C-Max has no plans for storming the US market. This one does however look cooler, especially when dressed in this fashionable shade of Ford Fiesta green.

Legend speaks of the return of the Volkswagen Phaeton, a.k.a 'Piech's Pholly,' a.k.a. the VW sedan so mind-blowingly expensive, Americans wouldn't wrap their wallets around it. To combat the problem, Volkswagen has now made a version even more expensive.

Not content to bring just the kinda-weird Renault Zeo ZE concept, the crazy Frenchmen went bonkers with the crazy square-wheeled Renault Twizy ZE electric concept. It's almost weirder than the Peugeot BB1. Almost.

The Zonda’s insane farewell special may be old news, but would you just walk by if you saw one with its hood carapace torn asunder? You could not. Come and see the gallery of heat-rainbowed titanium below!

This little bunch of Teslas was parked outside one of the exhibition halls here in Frankfurt. The cars were sipping juice from portable power stations to recover from the second day of the motor show.

The Renault Zoe ZE is yet another — shock-of-shocks — electric car concept making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But, this is the first we've seen to infuse the cabin air with L'Oreal skin moisturizer. How very French.

Germans (not pictured) are notorious fetishists, which is why it's no surprise that they should be a part of the latest and most eco-friendly kink: plugging-in electric cars. The gallery below is only NSFW if you work at Radio Shack.

The Peugeot RCZ may be the Audi TT-fighter from France, but as it's the first modern Peugeot passenger car not bearing a numerical designation, is it French enough? In a word: Oui!

The most surprising thing about the Bentley Mulsanne, other than the look on its face, is the choice of motivation. Rather than a Volkswagen W12 it uses an updated version of the classic Rolls Royce 6¾-litre V8.