Taipei Car Show 2013-2014

Let's start the show rolling with the biggest positive surprise at the Taipei Car Show: the Honda NSX concept. Hadn't seen it before, probably because I'm not that interested in Japanese cars in general, even though I spent most of my life driving various generations of Honda Civics. Another Japanese surprise follows further down.

For the first time ever, the Italians came to the show, or at least Ferrari and Maserati. You know the Ferraris, including the FF, so I only shot the Maseratis, including the Ghibli in its Taiwanese premiere.

Spyker is a rare Dutch treasure. They nearly broke the house by buying Saab, but here they are in Taipei.

As one of the most popular foreign car brands in Taiwan, Mercedes was strongly represented with models ranging from the A-class to the huge GL SUV. The emphasis was on the AMG line, though.

Eye to eye with the CLS Shooting Brake.

 The SL 63 AMG, rear and front.

 The Porsche Boxster. The Porsche Macan was guest of honor, but that meant it was locked up in a small room and you had to line up for half an hour if you wanted to see it. Not worth the effort, since it looks too much like the Cayenne.

 BMW also had a strong lineup, including the i3, which is already known from so many pictures. I loved their taillights, in this case a 3-series.

 Bentley, a brand with cars that cost at least half a million US dollars a piece in Taiwan. You still see them more and more.

 The Bentley Mulsanne, worth more than 750,000 US dollars.

 McLaren's first appearance in Taipei.

 Another one of my favorite German brands, Audi, with the R8 Spyder, aka Iron Man's car.

 The taillight of the Audi A8, sorry S8, to break the rhythm a bit.

 And finally, the other Japanese surprise: the Lexus LF-LC.

Conclusion: one of the best Taipei car shows ever. The brands that were absent either don't sell cars in Taiwan (GM, Chrysler, Fiat, Renault, Seat, Kia - which returns next year) or chose not to be there (Lamborghini, Rolls Royce). Everybody else was there: VW, Skoda, the Japanese from Toyota to Subaru and Daihatsu, and even Korea's ugly duckling, Ssangyong.
I also looked around for model cars, with Mercedes and Audi having excellent choice, but at inflated prices: about 70 USD for models so tiny I didn't even play when those when I was five, and more than 200 USD for the serious models, so I didn't buy anything.

New Mercedes S-class reaches Taiwan

When carmakers launch a new model in Asia, they usually pick glitzy shopping malls or dull trade fair halls for their promotional activities. Mercedes Benz in Taiwan went a whole lot further for the 2013 S-class last Wednesday. It turned the usually bare plaza in front of Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall into a 'lake,' be it one not deep enough to drown even a lizard. The 'island' in the middle featured a drum band and seats for the guests.

When I first passed there at noon, I already managed a close look at the top car models: the S500, the S350, the hybrid S400. The design of the new S-class didn't leave me breathless. I think Mercedes is under threat of falling prey to the same problem that has plagued Audi: too many cars looking too similar. The headlights of most Mercedes models these days, from A-class and CLA to M-class, look all the same.

Fortunately, the taillights of the new S-class saved it for me. When I went back to the site during a short dinner break, the show was in full swing with purple and red lights reflecting in the undeep pool. I went straight for the cars parked at the back, which fortunately had their own lights on but were kept out in the dark away from the big reflecting flashes which make getting nice pictures at regular car shows so difficult.

I have something for taillights, especially the ones on recent BMW models, but the new S-class is not too bad either in that respect. Just enjoy the pictures down here.

The Taipei Car Show 4: Mercedes F700

I'm not one for concept cars but here is one I've been hearing a lot about for a long time: the Mercedes F700, no doubt a model for any future S-class or for the successor to the Maybach superMerc.

It looks a bit Alien and Predator at the front with the heavy grille and the Man with the Iron Mask type headlights, but it's still a car worth mentioning. Even if I had the money, I wouldn't be buying it though. If I had the money, I'd probably be looking at one of their convertibles which were not at the show, such as the CLK and SLK.

The Taipei Car Show 3: Jaguar XJ

The brand new Jaguar XJ to me was the revelation of the Taipei Car Show. It was also my biggest headache.

Because of all the sharp spotlights positioned around the car, I had an extremely tough time trying to take a picture that made the car look less than a reflection of those lights. By the time I got more or less successful, the show had started and this Coco Lee lookalike was positioned next to the car.

Talking about the car, I hadn't even seen a picture of it before I visited the show this morning, so expecting to see the XF coupes, I was totally blown away by this saloon. Heavy, I heard a woman behind me say. Not half as heavy looking as the Mercedes S-class or the BMW 7-series, I thought. Congratulations, Tata and the Jaguar designers. You have a winner.