Geneva Motor Show 2004
No real news at Ferrari
Maserati MC12
Maserati GranSport
Other highlights
Geneva Motor Show 2004
Although it’s definitely not among the biggest motor shows in the world, the
Geneva Motor Show has been one of the most important venues of its kind since
1905. This is probably caused by the fact that the Geneva Motor Show always
takes place in the first two weeks of March, so… quite early in the year, allowing
the manufacturers to present new models for the current model year.
Furthermore, the international flair of Switzerland’s second largest city is
unrivalled.
Between March 2nd and 14th, 2004 the Geneva Motor Show took place for the
74th time already. Since 1982, the site of the event has been the Palexpo
exposition area, located virtually adjacent to the Geneva International Airport.. As
always, many premiers of new automobiles took place on the two press days,
March 2nd and 3rd, that attracted thousands of journalists from all over the world.
No real news at Ferrari
In the past Ferrari had already often chosen the Geneva Motor Show as a venue to
present new GT- and sportscars. This year Ferrari did only celebrate the 612
Scaglietti’s official European premiere, but since the car had had its world debut
during the Detroit Motor Show in the first week of January already, and since
Ferrari’s new 2+2 has already been shown to selected customers in advance, the
car wasn’t a real novelty to the journalists and the majority of the Ferraristi. The
Ferrari display did feature a silver 612 Scaglietti (s/n 136336) and another
example (s/n 136572) in the new colour “Rubino Micaliazzato“, a dark metallic red
that replaces „Rosso Fiorano“ in Ferrari’s colour range. Another new — or at least
renamed — colour is „Blu Mirabeau“, a light metallic blue that took the place of
„Azzurro California“ in the colour range. Looking at the colour on a presenter at the
show, it seemed possible that it is actually identical to „Azzurro California“ —
confirmation needed.
Aside from the two 612 Scaglietti, Ferrari did show a 575 GTC (s/n 2106) and a
575M Maranello, both in Rosso Corsa. The latter featured the new optional „GTC
Handling Pack“ which includes carbon brake discs, a new exhaust system with a
much “deeper” sound, 19’’ wheels and coloured brake callipers. Basically, the
„GTC Handling Pack“ is a more sophisticated version of the „Fiorano Handling
Pack“; in Germany, it will have a price tag of about 20.000,-€.
The 360 family, consisting of 360 Modena, 360 Spider und Challenge Stradale,
was present in black. An F2003-GA Formula 1 (s/n 229) completed the Ferrari
stand.
Maserati MC12
The of the „Gruppo Ferrari-Maserati“ was definitely on Maserati this year. On the
large Maserati stand one could see for the first time in public the MC12, a super
sportcar based on the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari. Although Maserati’s PR material
pointed out that the car was entirely and solely developed by Maserati, its true
pedigree of the 630 hp MC12 is quite obvious. The six litre-V12 engine of the Enzo
Ferrari was equipped with a mighty restrictor that reduces its power by 30 hp. The
road legal version of the nicely designed 330 km/h super sportscar with the
unusual tail end (strange rear light setup) features a removable targa top which
caused the Enzo’s gullwing doors to disappear on the Maserati design. For the
use in the FIA GT Series, a racing version of the MC12 with fixed top is available. It
was also shown at Geneva. The MC12’s road version will reportedly be limited to
25 units worldwide — exactly the number of cars necessary to get the FIA GT
homologation. It was also mentioned that the entire production was already sold
out, and that the car will not be road legal in the USA and Japan. Eight examples
will come to Germany, priced at 600.000,-€ plus VAT, that’s about 50.000,-€ more
than one had to spend for an Enzo.
Maserati GranSport
Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, who conducted the unveiling of the MC12, did
present another new Maserati model to the press and the visitors: The Maserati
GranSport. This new project is basically the transition of the idea behind the
Ferrari Challenge Stradale to the Maserati Coupé: A weight-reduced variant of
Maserati’s 2+2 coupe with a focus on sporting features like a new front grille,
spoilers and a stiffened suspension.
Other highlights
The highlights of other makes were the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, an concept for
an Aston Martin Vanquish Roadster by Zagato, the Bertone Jet 2 (a fastback
based on the Aston Martin DB9), the BMW 6-Series Cabriolet, the Lamborghini
Murciélago Roadster, the Mercedes-Benz CLS class, the Rolls-Royce 100 EX (a
two-door convertible based on the Phantom’s design). Obviously, convertibles are
more hip than ever!
Between March 1st and 13th, 2005 the automotive world will again look at Geneva
for the 75th International Geneva Motor Show — probably with nice anniversary
specials.
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