Volkswagen Eos News

Nine stars of the Melbourne International Motor Show took a quick spin from City Hall to Federation Square to rev the city up for tomorrow evening's big opening at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.Led by a beefy Chrysler 300C police car, about $2 million worth of auto exotica cruised down Swanston St.Lord Mayor John So rode James Bond-style in a $360,000 Aston Martin DB9 Volante convertible.Immediately behind him was a Bentley Continental GTC convertible worth $400,000, but even that was trumped moments later by a Ferrari 599 GTB, costing $600,000.Others in the column included a Maserati Quattroporte, the new convertibles from Volkswagen and Volvo, and a top-of-the-range Lexus LS460.Most unusual was the Bonning B3 three-wheeler, the personal project of designer and artist Brad Bonning.But there would be plenty more to see at the show itself, said the extravaganza's director, Russ Tyrie."That's just to give people a taste of what they will see on Friday," Mr Tyrie said."The parade is a great way to bring the show to Melbourne and to give people an idea of what an exciting and dynamic thing the car industry is."The covers will come off quite a few new cars at the show."With some of them it's going to be as much a surprise to us as it will to everyone else."

The 2006 Australian International Motor Show heralded the opening of open-top motoring season, and summer could not then have been celebrated in a better way than with a hefty V10-engined super-cabrio, a stylish sultry Italian, some topless European flair and some ‘home-grown’ hotties.Many flocked to the BMW stand to spend what will be a rare moment with the new BMW M6 Convertible.The wild Chris Bangle styling of the 6 Convertible is matched to the German marque’s phenomenal five-litre V10 engine.With 373kW and a sprint time of 4.8 seconds from 0-100km/h (just 0.2 behind the more aerodynamically-friendly Coupe), there is nothing soft about this soft-top.Unfortunately for those interested parties with a spare $295,000 to spend, the global allocation of the M6 Convertible for 2006 was completely sold out.Fifty additional Limited Edition M6 models made for the infamous Nieman Marcus Christmas Catalogue in the USA recently sold out in 1.5 seconds of the magazine’s online release. Another eagerly-anticipated convertible is the new Alfa Romeo Spider.Born of the beautiful new Brera coupe, the Spider misses out on the Coupe’s sublime behind and its two (compromised) rear seats, but strikes an equally imposing, aggressive stance with the roof down.The Spider was launched at the show in two engine and drive layouts - but for the moment transmission choice is manual only.This is a move that has proved disastrous for convertibles in the past (most recently, the Holden Tigra), but automatic transmissions should follow in 2007.The 2.2-litre petrol will set you back $76,950, but the flagship 3.2-litre V6 AWD strikes six figures at $100,950.The Eos is the next big thing from Volkswagen, and while it may be based on an old favourite, the trick folding roof is a completely new concept, it looks hot, and comes with a choice of two-litre turbo petrol or diesel drivetrains. It almost makes up for the Beetle convertible. Almost…Sharing much of the platform and DNA of VWs biggest seller, the Golf, it actually commandeers the suspension of the larger Passat sedan and wagon to carry the weight of the five-piece retractable hardtop.The first cutaway section acts as a sunroof when only a hint of UV is required, but folds a further four times into the boot like a deftly dealt deck of cards in a decent 25 seconds.The innovative roof, called a CSC or ‘convertible sliding coupe’ roof, still leaves room for luggage, while the design is resolved and solid with or without the roof down in coupe or convertible guise.The retractable hard top (RHT) is the emerging trend in the burgeoning convertible market. Even the second-gen Volvo C70 Convertible drops its traditional cloth roof in preference of the retractable hard top; the new version of Holden’s best selling Astra Convertible, the Astra TwinTop, does the same.Both the new TwinTop and opposition Ford’s new cabrio, the Ford Focus RHT (due here mid-2007), are designed and built in Europe where the trend obviously fired up – in a region of vastly fluctuating weather through the seasons, it makes sense to take the top off or completely shut out the cold.But for now, with these exciting new models coming to or on the Aussie market, we can all take the chance to enjoy a little ray of sunshine. And with a RHT, it seems that style does not go out with the seasons…

Alfa Romeo stepped up straight after the Peugeot unveiling of a woman, I mean a car. A 207 apparently.

It is, in its way, the best show for ages, with a quotient of concept vehicles and exotica balanced by real world stuff you'd actually consider buying.Highlights?It's hard to walk past Audi's R8, a fully-fledged supercar likely to come in with a "bargain" tag of substantially less than $300,000. Next to it is the second generation Audi TT, mightily improved and not screamingly unaffordable from $68,500 the entry model and about $20K more for its 3.2 V6 quattro sibling. We drove both of these through the Austrian Alps in June 2006, and will hazard the guess that Audi will struggle to meet demand for this superbly executed coupe.And, just for show, is a model of the R10 – the amazing V12 diesel that took first and third at this year's Le Mans.The great thing about concept cars is that they needn't conform to such tiresome criteria as Australian Design Rules - hence the lack of an A pillar on Saab's Aero Concept X. The lack of any pillars for that matter. Slightly more tangible is the 9-5 bio ethanol-powered wagon - a car to gladden the hearts of sugar cane growers.Lotus has revived an iconic brand name with the Europa S, a car that should affirm two-seater motoring can still be an unadulterated and largely unconstrained experience. When the product of mainstream manufacturers seems to keep getting fatter, like a choc-addicted neurotic, the mere existence of Lotus serves to remind us of (hard) core driving verities.Mazda's Kabura sports compact - with its cute 3+1 seating arrangement - is a concept from which the theme and shape of Mazdas to come can be divined. Ditto Honda's Sports 4 Concept for that marque. Or so we hope. While Honda's SH-AWD system is damn clever, it'd be neat to see it attached to something a little more athletic than the globulous Legend.A few metres away from the Kabura is the CX-7 - the crossover SUV with much of the Mazda 6 MPS's drivetrain - which you'll be seeing on our streets soon. It's one of two vehicles that perfectly defines what marketing types like to call the "zeitgeist" of the Australian buyer at the moment.The other, you may or may not choose to believe, is a Volvo. The S80 all-wheel-drive V8 luxury sedan might be the Swedish marque's new hero model, but their decidedly groovy 2+2, the C30, could be the car that finally puts paid to those ancient "bloody Volvo driver" cliches.It also points firmly in the direction that Australian private buyers are going ie: those of us not enamoured of soft road SUVs are downsizing but up-speccing.And speaking of good things in small packages, those who have queued long for the Volkswagen Golf GTI will be delighted to see that not only is demand being addressed, but the new to Australia three door-model starts $1500 under the five door at $38,490. VeeWee's highly desirable Eos CC, the big drawer at last year's Frankfurt motor show, finally made its Australian debut ahead of its release early in 2007.And yes, that's a turbo diesel variant you see parked near the turbo petrol. If diesel seems anomalous in a (part-time) open top car, it works.Given the mudslide of Holden hype this year, it comes almost as relief not to see some lurid concept jobbie from them for once, although unveiling the Hummer H3 did at least provide comic relief.With the pomp and circumstance we've come to expect from Holden on the opening day of the show, the covers were hauled off to anything but the reception they've come to expect.Far from the rapturous and somewhat sycophantic applause that greeted their Torana and Efijy creations, there was … well, the sound of no hands clapping. In fact, the silence that greeted this spectacularly pointless and ugly apparition could best be described as stoney.Nissan's Foria is a concept car we’d very much like to see come into fruition. Apart form the corporate grille, this is an elegant Lancia-like coupe intended as an MX-5-like alternative. 

The Volkswagen Eos, BMW's M6 Convertible, Volvo's second-generation C70 and the Alfa Romeo Spider all debuted at the Show."Australia's deepening love affair with convertibles reflects the strong growth of the market segment," says FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock."The Australian International Motor Show is the perfect forum for the latest convertibles to hit our shores - to showcase to the public their individual advances in technology, styling and performance," he said.Volkswagen is setting a world first with its new Eos - a four-seater with a five-section CSC hardtop convertible roof.Together with its length and height, the vehicle's width lends the Eos a powerful stance that contributes to the car's extra agility and safe handling.Another four-seater to be revealed at the motor show is BMW's M6 Convertible, featuring its internationally acclaimed five-litre V10 engine.Producing a massive 373kW, the M6 engine accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds.The M6 Convertible has the same performance package as its coupe counterpart in addition to the styling cues that clearly identify it as the work of BMW.Volvo's much anticipated second-generation C70 convertible, to be unveiled for the first time in Australia at the motor show, features a three-piece folding hardtop, which converts the car from coupe to convertible in less than 30 seconds.The new C70 offers comfortable interior space and world-first safety for four passengers.The motor show will also see the return of the Alfa Romeo Spider in a new-generation form.The rear of the new version of the classic two-seater sports car has been redesigned to focus attention on its open-top character.