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The Geneva Motor Show

Last weekend (the one before Easter) was pretty hectic. On Saturday I went to a couple of sessions of the Share Festival (write-up coming soon I hope) during the day, then after a quick and very nice pizza at Ristorante Seven Up (on Via Andrea Doria) I headed out of Torino and off over the Alps.

It took me about three hours to get from Turin, through the Saint Bernard tunnel, and down into Montreux where I met up with some friends who've recently moved there to teach.

I didn't get to see too much of Montreux as it was dark and wet when I arrived, and the next morning we headed over to Geneva for the day. I didn't see much of Geneva either, to be fair. Most of the day was spent wandering round the expanse of exhibition halls looking at cars in the Geneva Motor Show.

The main theme I could see throughout the show was that of environmentally-friendly motoring. Lots of manufacturers were showing hybrid or super-fuel-efficient engines, but as a result lots of the concept vehicles were very conservative and boring. If cars are going to work as a carbon-neutral transport option, we need to find the sexy, interesting sports- and super-car versions.

Morgan were showing an interesting fuel-cell concept, that despite only having 30 BHP could still achieve 0-62 in 8 seconds. Apart from that, the most exciting stand was Giugiaro's but only because they were showing some of their old concept cars, including the fantastic-looking Bizzarrini Manta.

Overall I was a bit disappointed with the show, but it was good to catch up with some mates, and the drive back over the Alps on Sunday evening was fun. There are some photos from the show over on my Flickr account.

Tags: Geneva Motor Show 2008 cars