Melbourne International Motor Show 2008

By Feann Torr - 29/February/2008

Melbourne, Australia — There was glitz, there was glamour, there was even one very unhappy carmaker and a profusion of hot models. Oh, and there were a few cars too.

Sorry, bad pun. It was a long day...

So the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show kicked off at the ungodly time 7:30am in Jeff's Shed on the Yarra river, and like all good motor shows was populated by the kind of audio-visual systems and audacious exhibits designed to physically shake the cynicism out any and all patrons.

While the most important vehicle at the show was undoubtedly the new 2008 Ford FG Falcon, Holden managed to upstage its arch-rival with the launch of the Coupe 60, a very sporty 2-door concept car that had everyone asking "Is this the New Monaro?"

HSV also fired a warning shot over the bow of the FPV frigate with the stunning HSV W427, a high performance rear-wheel drive sedan powered by GM's insane 7.0-litre LS7 V8 engine outputting demonic 370kW. 

Wait until the tuners get a hold of that one!

Some other notable mentions go to Volkswagen's very impressive compact 4WD, the Tiguan, which is coming to Australia in May priced at under $34,000. Can you say 'sold out before it arrives'?

Holden's new Sportwagon was a real looker, Peugeot's 308 appears to be the hot European model of the month, plus there was sightings of the fearsome Nissan GT-R, the wicked Ferrari F430 Scuderia and enough concept cars to keep even the most ardent futurists happy. 

Whether you're attending the motor show or are just keen to know what was unveiled and what hijinks the automakers got up to in order to promote their wares, here's the list of exhibitors and new models as journalists saw them on the media day:

Ford - 7:36am: Ford's new FG Falcon was the key figure on Ford's display and arguably the most important model of the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show. While it has been criticised as having a silhouette too similar to its precursor, in my opinion the design gets better the more I see it. 

Photos don't do the new Falcon justice - see it in the flesh then cast your judgement. The new FPV models also made for great motor show fodder.

Another major player at the Ford exhibit was the new Mondeo wagon, which could end up killing off the Falcon wagon. It's really that good.

More Images: Ford FG Falcon

Toyota - 7:52am: Toyota was next, and had one of the best exhibits from a "cor blimey!" point of view. Though virtually identical to its Sydney Motor Show stand, there were several cars mounted in the walls, giving the exhibit a real Gulliver's feel.

The major model launches were the new TRD Hilux, which outputs 225kW of power thanks to a supercharged 4.0-litre V6 engine. Another big model that will attract crowds was the FT-HS sports car, or the 'Prius on Steroids' as Toyota coined it. This 300kW monster is already being touted the next generation Toyota Supra.

More Images: Toyota FT-HS Concept
More Images: TRD HiLux

Mitsubishi - 8:06am: Having signed a contract with the Australian Olympic Committee, Mitsubishi had a number of Olympians at its exhibit. The only athletes I was interested in however were the turbocharged ones. The Ralliart Lancer will be priced at around $40,000 and is one fine looking vehicle. Exact pricing and power output (about 175kW) is still being finalised, but the buzz is already building. Watch this space folks.

Another vehicle on the monstrous Mitsubishi stand that caught the eye was the Concept-cX, which is "the kind of soft-roader only Mitsubishi Motors could create". It showed off a cool design, but one that could be easily toned down for production.

More Images: Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer

Peugeot - 8:20am: Peugeot has a bit of a reputation for outlandish introductions at Australian motor shows, and Melbourne '08 was no different. A woman suspended from the ceiling certainly grabbed the attention of sleepy attendees. It's a hard act to follow... The 308 Touring was what we all came to see, and it was one of many sporty wagons at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show.

More Images: Peugeot 308

Holden - 8:34am: Holden had big screen, lots of lights, and an audio system so loud my eardrums wept blood. It had some 24 cars on display, including the new VE Sportwagon which will be priced from $37,790. The trendy new Holden Sportwagon will available in range of flavours, including SSV, Berlina, and Calais.

The next big unveiling on the Holden stand was the HSV W427. This behemoth is being touted as the most powerful Australian supercar yet (Bolwell and E-Vade may argue with that), powered by the 7.0-litre LS7 V8 engine. It outputs 370kW @ 6500rpm and 640Nm @ 5000rpm and certainly stole a bit of FPV's thunder.

The final major reveal, and one of the few world firsts at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show, was the Coupe 60, designed to celebrate Holden's 60th anniversary. Emerging from a hidden garage on the stage, shrouded with smoke and blinding lights, the launch was impressive.

Already there is a growing consensus that the Coupe 60 concept is our first look at the next generation Monaro. After all, it has a distinct VE Commodore look, is based on a similar platform and according to its designer is "production capable". Holden boss Mark Reuss said "I know our designers would dearly love to see [the concept] go into production, but for the moment it has to remain a concept only."

More Images: Holden Coupe 60
More Images: HSV W427

Nissan - 8:50am: Nissan's exhibit was fairly low key, but had one of the stars of the show in the form of the GT-R. The car looks stunning in the flesh - far more awe inspiring than any photo can convey, and single handedly managed to delay proceedings at the next exhibit. It will go on sale in Australia in early 2009, priced at around $150,000.

More Images: Nissan GT-R

Lexus - 9:02am: Lexus had no brand-new launches, but almost every vehicle on its stand had a compliment of groundbreaking technology. Watching the LS600h park itself is always fascinating, while the IS-F with its 8-speed transmission can't come soon enough.

More Images: Lexus IS-F

Mazda - 9:14am: Mazda's exhibit didn't stand have architectural wonderment like the Toyota, Mitsubishi, or Holden stands, but it did have a world first unveiling in the form of the Mazda2 Extreme. As one of Mazda's best sellers, the new Mazda2 had a full-on rally get-up and looked pretty tough.

As well as the new Mazda6, which looks superb, Mazda showed off the Hakaze concept - one of the wilder concepts at the event - and the RX-8 Anniversary model, of which only 200 models will be sold in Australia. Priced at $55,840, the special edition RX-8 gets new Bilstein suspension for improved handling, new wheels, badging and so forth.

More Images: Mazda Hakaze Concept

Honda - 9:26am: Though it was only half-past nine, it felt far later than this. Press kits weighing heavily on sagging shoulders, Honda woke everyone up with an explosive percussion ensemble. Focussing attention on its exhibit, Honda following the rhythmic drumming with the usual speeches on the new Honda Accord. There was even a cutaway version allowing you see the vehicles innards.

More Images: Honda Accord
More Images: Honda Accord Euro

Bolwell - 9:40am: The mercifully short walk from Honda to the next exhibit saw Bolwell take the wraps off its new Nagari supercar. One of the things that struck me about this new mid-engined model was its compact size. 

Bolwell says if there's interest in the high performance model, which is expected to cost in excess of $200,000, they'll build it. It's exclusivity is also guaranteed, as the company says only 25 units will be built per annum. Production could start in January 2009.

More Images: Bolwell Nagari

Subaru - 9:48am: Though there were no pyrotechnics, no dancers, and no floating women, but Subaru's new Forester garnered plenty of attention after the usual speeches were done. 

As Australia's most successful compact AWD, with more than 105,000 models sold here, the throng of journalists crowded around the new models and hastily jumped into them, poking and prodding to see what was new. Indeed, they are quite nice inside, and the new design is also easy on the eye. Looks like another winner.

The 2008 Forester will be on sale in Australia from the second week of March, priced from $30,490. Subaru also showed off another only-for-Australia special edition Liberty, the GT tuned by STI. I tested the previous version and it was an staggeringly good performance car, so expect all 250 limited edition cars to sell very quickly.

Hyundai - 10:00am: One of my favourite concept cars was on the Hyundai exhibit - the Genesis Coupe. The man who designed the car was also on hand to talk about the new model, which will be released in production form at the New York Auto Show next month. 

As for an Australian version of this stunning rear-wheel drive coupe? Don't hold your breath - it's a left-hand drive model for America only at the moment. But you never know...

More Images: Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Kia - 10:12am: At this stage in any brightly lit motor show attention spans begin to wane. Microphone issues during the all-important keynote speech didn't help, beginning like some sort of rap song.

Kia didn't offer anything truly dramatic, but it did show off the Picanto which could go on sale in Australia if interest is high according to Kia's chief Peter Nochar. It looks pretty good too. The Rondo 7 people mover was also shown, and will priced from $24,990 which will ignite a lot of interest.

Audi - 10:38am: Trust Audi to turn up the heat just when I was starting to doze off... Cue the obnoxiously loud band, hot models stepping out of cars, all topped off with a chirpy chat from ex supermodel Sarah Murdoch.

The vehicles on display were pretty sassy too, with the RS6 Avant generating a lot of interest among the huge industry throng. The RS6 will come to Australia in August, priced at around $260,000. 

The new TT-S is also a pretty swish looking vehicle, and Audi mentioned that its new compact AWD, the Q5, could arrive in Oz by late 2008. The A3 Cabrio, which has a pair of the best-looking brake lights this side of a concept car, will be coming in July, and the new A4 will arrive in May priced from around $51k.

More Images: Audi RS 6 Avant
More Images: Audi TT-S

Maserati - 10:50am: Maserati unveiled the Quattroporte Sport GT S, but at this stage I was bit bored so I walked over to the Volkswagen stand to look for something to eat.

More Images: Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S

Volvo - 11:02am: Who needs music or dance when you've got a Daddo? Volvo employed Lauchie Daddo to assist MC-ing its keynote speech, which was pretty upsetting. But once Australia's best-known B-list celebrity left the stage there were very fine machines to look at, the C30 R Design being one of them - basically a very sporty looking performance version of the C30.

Volvo also showed off its new V70 wagon, which is powered by a turbocharged 6-cylinder engine for the first time. With 210kW of power its not lacking any muscle.

More Images: Volvo V70

Ferrari - 11:16am: Small but sexy is one way to describe the Fiat exhibit. Though it only had a handful of cars, each one of them seemed to attract cameras like moths to the flame. The F430 Scuderia was the focal point of the Ferrari stand, which can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in a claimed 3.6 seconds.

More Images: Ferrari F430 Scuderia

Land Rover - 11:28am: While the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover is pretty much signed and sealed to Indian car maker Tata, the company's centrepiece vehicle was one of the best concept cars of the show - the LRX. 

Like almost every other concept car at the Melbourne Motor Show (except for Holden's new Coupe 60), the LRX has been seen before but by gum it's an attractive vehicle. Unusually for an SUV, it's a 2-door vehicle.

More Images: Land Rover LRX

Renault - 11:40am: At this stage of the morning, with the end almost in sight, it was going to take something truly original to refocus attention, and Renault managed to do it. Two violinists - one wearing black, one wearing white - had themselves a little play off in front of the Koleos concept, and before it began to drag on it was very engaging.

One of the musicians had an electric violin which was intriguing, but the product they were employed to spruik was also rather fascinating. The Renault Koleos concept will be turned into a production SUV for the French car maker later in 2008, and exposes the car makers plans for a new model.

Renault also showed a performance version of the new Clio, coming in July, and the flagship Laguna III, which will arrive here in June.

More Images: Renault Laguna III
More Images: Renault Clio Sport

Fiat - 11:52am: All hail the Bambino! The new Fiat 500 is a very neat looking car, and though it has stuff-all boot space, it's a smash hit before it's even launched here. Almost half the annual Australian allocation of Fiat 500s are already spoken for, so if you want one - get in quick. They're selling like hotcakes!

The car was introduced by a pair of dancers who bounced around the place to some upbeat music, but it has to be said that the cars themselves were quite impressive. Interestingly, the 1.3-litre diesel Fiat 500 will use less fuel than any other car when it's launched in Australia - and that includes hybrids.

More Images: Fiat 500

Volkswagen- 12:06am: Placed almost last on the list of exhibitors, Volkswagen was very unhappy with the Melbourne Motor Show organisers. So disappointed was VW that it scrapped the big launch of its Tiguan ahead of time and refused to deliver its keynote speech.

What's an annual event without a bit of drama?

It's a shame Volkswagen got shafted, because its drawcard vehicle, the Tiguan, is going to be huge in Australia. Prices begin at under $34,000, and the German company will launch diesel version the car here in May for $35,990. The design is neat and tidy, the interior comes across as high quality, and the standard features will be hard to beat.

Volkswagen will be targetting Toyota Rav4, Subaru Forester, Honda CR-V and other compact AWD buyers with the new model, which has already been a sell-out success in Europe. The very beefy looking Passat R36 and R50 Touareg were among the plethora of other Volkswagens shown.

More Images: Volkswagen Tiguan

Proton - 12:18am: Kicking off with a Wolf Mother song, followed by a pair of dynamic dancers, Proton did well to keep attention focussed when most people's blood sugar levels were dropping dangerously low.

The first vehicle on show from the Malaysian car maker was for the Proton Persona, which is remarkable value priced from $16,990. Then the classic '80s anthem 'The Final Countdown' began blaring as the R3 Satria concept was unveiled, which could be labelled as a modern say Proton Satria GTI.

Other car makers had exhibits, such as Skoda and Suzuki, but there were also some car makers missing, such as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

We'll have more detailed reports of some on the stand out vehicles of the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show - such as the Holden Coupe 60 - in the next few days, but if you get the chance I would definitely recommend you check out the event if you're in Melbourne. And hey, you may even get to meet Lauchie Daddo.

Related Links:
- Detroit Motor Show (2008)
- Concept Cars of the Tokyo Motor Show (2007)
- Girls of the Australian Motor Show (Gallery)
- Australian International Motor Show #1 (2007)
- Australian International Motor Show #2 (2007)
- Frankfurt Motor Show (2007)