#Summary 4
Welcome back to Earls Court, folks, for the final day of this year’s show. It’s one rip-roaring-extravaganza of an auto expo, and I’m almost sad to see it go! Some members of the Royal family were court touring the displays, which certainly drew plenty of attention. I hear the young Princess Anne was particularly fond of the Visconte SS, perhaps because it’s green, though we couldn’t determine why.
Let’s see what the final days had in store for us at Earls Court!
Today’s music of choice is a band from the future! Why, it’s the mighty Rolling Stones with The Last Time!
IMP & Monolith revealed the rest of their current lineup at a special presentation. The smartly designed Teuton opened the display; we were impressed back in 1955 when we were first saw it at Geneva that year, and its new facelift ensures it no longer feels outdated. We certainly hope to see a continuation of this line in the future. Sitting next to it was the new Europa, aptly named for its market and featuring a new range of SOHC engines, something that’s still quite new for this market. More variants will be following, though we certainly like the looks of the saloon.
The gorgeous, premium L6 looked stunning in piano black paint (at least we think it’s that, remember that colour vision hasn’t been invented in some parts of the world yet!), and the specs real of this 2nd gen model is simply incredible; 190hp, automatic transmission, LWB design, air-con and a unibody chassis. The Germans may have little in the way of soul, but boy they know how to do luxury.
Another budget sports car was announced by LVC. Called the Parrot, this nippy little 2.1l, 100hp coupe features some great chrome work upfront and sweet, sweet power delivery. It’s nippy, neat and fun. Fairly comfortable for this bit of the market and quite fast too, meaning it certainly ticks all the boxes. And, most importantly, it’ll comfortably hit 100+ mph, which is certainly fast for 1960! We can expect it to arrive next year.
MBS gave us the rundown of their 1960 lineup as well as few upcoming vehicles. The understated Monaco has now been facelifted and continues to offer an excellent budget luxury experience. While it’s as soft as an over ripe peach, its sweet little i3 engine and automatic gearbox really do give it some character, and it is superbly well equipped for a car of this size.
Then, shock and horror occurred. I dare say genuine panic filled the display halls. MBS unveiled a car called the Valiant, with rectangular headlights. Rectangular! What is this? Some science fiction comic? The Valiant is certainly one of the most unusal cars we’ve ever seen, and even more amazing is that it’s being marketed as a people’s car. Which people, we don’t know. Still it’s, certainly cheap and practical.
A new concept of a “supermini” was also unveiled, called the Vole, which will be here soon apparently. We await announcement of similar cars from rival companies.
Sinistra showed as a sleek American V6 coupe. Called the Aerocoupe - a name that could only have come from the States - it’s an advanced and modern look into a very different US car. Decently efficient, great amounts of power from its 3.5l engine and great comfort.
It even has parts that are ready for a potential lead ban from petrol, which seems a little extreme but it’s certainly innovative. The superb glass sunroof is a really great feature, and we think it certainly looks good to. Oh, and the engine has plenty of chrome on it, and we can NOT argue with that.
And then, the most expensive car we have ever seen came along. Astranti revealled the Obscuro 4.8 SS, once again giving us one of the best names for a car ever. The Obscuro looks, sounds and goes like something from the future - incredibly smooth design, those dang-fangled pop-up headlights and a massive 4.8l V12. Producing 365 hp, it’s exceptionally powerful, and will top out at 179 mph.* While it only sits two on the inside, the interior is incredible, with the low roofline counteracted by the wrap-around windows that make it feel thoroughly futuristic. We half expect it to take off and fly out of the exhibition hall!
*will, when it arrives in 1967, which in turn also makes that price slightly more reasonable. Slightly.
Of course, however grand an ending to the show the Obscuro is, we can go one further, or rather Petoskey can. Meet the Istotope Concept, another nuclear-powered car of the future. While they themselves admit that it’s a dead idea already, they’re still giving it a try, and the fact that it’s in a coupe is nice. And, it will run on antimatter, apparently. Though, when they said “we are designing ours”, they seem to imply that the car is actually still be finished. Somehow, we aren’t sure how far it’ll get.
And that’s that folks! Earls Court closes for another year. We’ve seen a great many vehicles this year and we certainly have plenty to look forward to in the future it seems.
We can expect some sort of awards process to follow shortly, so stay tuned for that. For now, I’ve been your host, Gordon Anderson. Good bye for now!
-G. Anderson
