The modified cars of the 2018 Geneva Motor Show
You may not have heard, but a motor show happened in Geneva this week. It was handily called the Geneva Motor Show and it was full of absolutely mad cars.
Sizeable leaps in tech meant we saw some properly nutjob machinery. Like the Rimac C_Two; a 1,900bhp, 415kph self-driving electric hypercar. Or, the 1,100bhp+ Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, a hybrid V12 track car capable of 362kph, featuring an aerodynamic profile unlike anything we’ve seen before.
And yet, it gets more nutjob. Step foward, the tuners of Geneva; a small enclave you can always rely on to push things just that teeny bit further.
There were wings! There were colours! There were huge, kerbable alloy wheels!
Be honest, it’s what you want to see, right? Click forth and comment…
Mansory Bugatti Veyron Vivere
Geneva just wouldn’t be the same without Mansory. Its stand is the Aladdin’s cave of gaudiness. You want a carbon fibre and gold ostrich skin office chair - they’ve got it. £50,000 (RM266,000) modified golf buggy? No problem. The Thing that most caught our (and everybody else’s) attention? Its new obsession with nouveau riche kitchen work surface carbon.
Mansory slathered the stuff over everything this year, including a whole Bugatti Veyron. They call the carbon weave ‘Marble Collage’. You might call it something else. Let us know below.
Liberty Walk Aventador
Not many humans would look at the 691bhp, lozenge-shaped Lamborghini Aventador and conclude it needed a bit more visual bite. But then not many humans are Kato-San, the man behind Japanese tuning shop Liberty Walk. Here’s his work, a 12-cylinder raging bull that’s been cut, stretched, bashed and riveted within an inch of its life. Then slammed on bags, obvs.
Kahn Flying Huntsman 6X6 Civilian Carrier
Live in the wilderness? Have an aversion to contraception? Kahn Design’s Chelsea Truck Company has the perfect car for you and your offspring. Called the Flying Huntsman 6x6 Civilian Carrier, it’s a standard 110 that’s been Stretch Armstrong’d to add an extra axle, two more wheels, and room for nine people.
Top Car Stinger
Clearly, the Porsche 911 Turbo S Cab doesn’t have enough carbon. At least for Geneva, anyhow. Top Car built a completely re-cladded carbon 911 Turbo S Cab. The kit consists of 24 carbon composite body panels which, we’re told are bonded to using hi-tech materials and, we quote, “know-how skills”.
Mansory McLaren 720S
McLaren’s 720S is a modern wonder of the Supercar World. It effortlessly straddles a line of everyday usability and ballistic performance. Mansory thought it could add a little bit more. By adding another 45bhp thanks to an ECU flash and a new, freer-flowing exhaust. But it’s also got a bit busy with the looks by lowering the suspension, adding a new front bumper, side skirts and rear aerodynamic profile. Because what do the folks at Woking know, eh?
Brabus Rocket 900
If you’re a serious businessman who needs to get meetings fast, and your Match.com profile states ‘Torque’ as one of your interests, we’ve got the perfect car for you: the Brabus Rocket 900.
‘900’ denotes the number of horses that power-hungry German tuner Brabus has managed to anvil from the S65’s freshly-bored 6.3-litre V12 Biturbo. That also has a side effect – 1,500Nm of tyre-shredding torque.
A load of work has gone into making these monstrous numbers possible: larger pistons, bigger turbochargers, 80mm downpipes with modified exhaust manifolds, a new air intake system, custom Brabus billet crankshaft complete with a longer stroke and larger cylinder, as well as a new limited slip differential. An aero kit and fresh interior make it look the part.
Liberty Walk GT-R
Liberty Walk might be one of the most polarising tuners on the planet. It has become notorious for bandsawing the arches off a multitude of exotic supercars, only to then rivet supersized bodykits and slammed suspension set-ups in place. For good or bad, you guys always have something to say about them. So, what do you think of this GT-R? You normally have a thing or two to say about GT-Rs.
Jaguar ‘Greatest Hits’ XJ
This is what happens when Jaguar Classic and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain spend too much time down the pub drinking very dark, very brown beer.
Called the ‘Greatest Hits’, it’s Nicko’s 1984 XJ6 Series 3 that’s had some of the incredibly fashionable ‘restomod’ dust sprinkled all over it.
Over 3,500 hours of work have gone into it and it features unique metallic mauve paint, 18-inch wire wheels, and flared arches. Under the bonnet, a mildly-tuned version of the 4.2-litre has been fully reconditioned and is running three E-Type spec SU carburettors. A custom exhaust system is finished with custom-machined quad tailpipes and the new uprated suspension comes complete with adjustable rear dampers. Y’know, just incase you want to track it.
Ruf SCR
Last year, Ruf surprised us with a modern recreation of its infamous ‘Yellowbird’. This year, it’s done a thoroughly modern homage to its original SCR, which debuted 40 years ago.
Its vintage looks have been blended with contemporary tech and lovely ‘Irish Green’ paint. Making use of a carbon monocoque body, it tips the scales at just 1,325kg — some 150kg lighter than a Porsche GT3. It’s mated to a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six with 503 horsepower and a six-speed manual. Purists, you have permission to go and clean yourself up.
Brabus Adventure 4x4 squared
There’s a new G-Wagen in town. But, unfortunately, Brabus can’t get its grubby hands on one yet. So they had a go at the last one. It tuned the monstrous G500 4x4 Squared, which if you need a reminder, puts the enormous tyres and portal axles from the especially crazy Mercedes G63 6x6 beneath the regular, four-wheeled G-Wagen.
For reasons not quite clear, Brabus has raised the output of the 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 from 416bhp to 493bhp, while torque now stands at 709Nm. Hope those portal axles are built as tough as they look. Then come plenty of bumpers, bash plates and wires so you can just drive wherever and over whatever you want.
Mansory Cyrus
If you post your Aston Martin to Mansory with a substantial cheque, this is what you’ll get in return. It’s called the Cyrus. And, for Mansory, is rather subtle. There are larger air intakes to help cool the twin-turbo V12, having been wound up to 700bhp which is apparently good for a 3.6-second 0-100kph sprint and top speed of 330kph.
Mansory Stallone
The Mansory Stallone nameplate (which we’re hoping is inspired by Sly) has been applied to all the tuner’s front-engined V12 Ferraris since the 599 GTB. With the arrival of the new rabid 812 Superfast, it was obviously time to come up with a new one.
So it has. With that new marble carbon, Mansory has given the Ferrari a complete overhaul in the bodywork department. Make of that what you will. Then it’s added a big spoiler - because Ferrari obviously didn’t do enough work in its multi-million-pound F1 tunnel - and then given it 830bhp. Because as you well know, the 812 was definitely down on power.
