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By
EWAN KENNEDY
3 September 2007
The Australian International Motor Show, better known as the
Sydney motor show, is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ever. A
strong range of new sportscars will be on display as will be some
fascinating concept cars, plus several important new models.
Lotus has tuned a special version of its Exige especially for
Australia. Tagged Exige Sport 240, the latter referring to its
horsepower, it will carry some Formula One style electronic
features such as launch control and traction assistance. This
should make it a real rocketship that can be used at the track of
a weekend and on the road during the week.
Bufori, an Australian maker of retro sports cars will return to
our market after an absence of too many years. It will display its
new La Joya roadster powered by a twin-cam 2.7-litre V6 engine
that promises plenty of straight-line performance. These days
Buforis are made in Malaysia as Australian production proved to be
too expensive.
At this stage Spyker cars are generally known only to those who
follow Grand Prix racing, but the Dutch marque also sells
high-performance road cars. The Spyker C8 Spyder is an outrageous
machine with a price tag to match - $650,000. Powered by a tuned
400 horsepower Audi V8 engine the C8 will make its debut at the
Sydney show.
BMW is showing what it calls the Concept CS. At this stage the
company says it is purely a design exercise, but it’s hard to
see it not coming to the world’s roads eventually. The lines are
sleek and a further evolution of the so-called Bangle design. A
four-door coupe it looks like a competitor for Mercedes'
successful CLS-Class.
Lexus is to introduce a new high-performance variant, the IS-F
in Australia next year and will preview it at the show. Aimed at
taking on the BMW M3 and Mercedes AMG C-Class variants, the Lexus
IS-F will be powered by a 5.0-litre V8 engine and have sports
tuned suspension and brakes.
Audi released the first pictures of its all-new A4 model to the
media this week and the car has its world launch at the Frankfurt
Motor Show midway through September. Australians will get their
first look at the car only a couple of weeks later in Sydney.
Coming down to a more affordable level, Skoda, the Czech car
maker, will make its long-awaited return to Australia with a huge
display. Hall 6 will be turned into an area Skoda is calling The
Pavilion and will display its Roomster compact people mover and
Octavia sedans and hatches in what sounds like a spectacular
manner.
WEBSITE
Sydney's motor show is to be held at the Darling Harbour
exhibition centre from October 11 to 21. Details of times, ticket
prices and special events being run at the show can be obtained
from www.australianmotorshow.com/.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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