Detroit 2018 is in full swing, and a load of new cars have been revealed. And naturally, I’ve been running all over the exhibition hall trying to keep up. Oh the joys of journalism.
Hey look! The updated Enemigo is here! Conte have updated their popular sports coupe with a redesigned version of its 320hp i4 and some new, less powerful options too for those who don’t want to break the bank. More variants than ever before are also availible, and I’ve very keen to see the Wagon variant. This new iteration is a decent looking ride with large haunches covering the fat wheels and a chiseled face.
However, it has nothing on the new Fleming Drophead. Bonham’s luxury GT coupe has had a chop and now comes in Cabrio form. The usual engineering witchcraft that is associated with cabriolet versions of such cars has been undergone, meaning it shouldn’t be any different to drive than the standard car. And as I’ve already said, it’s still just as beautiful as before.
Kimura made and apperance with the new Devorak 7 seater SUV. Soon to be tailgating road users on a highway near you. It’s face is a bit odd, particularly with that grille, though the rear is far prettier. Specs wise, well it’s a Japanese SUV. The MPG is okay, the pricing is good and it comes with a range of options etc etc. Essentially, it’s your bog standard mum-mobile with that extra Japanese flair. Or something like that.
The new Montes Urban made its debut yesterday, taking on board styling cues from the generic angular design style found in a lot of cars these days. The more interesting stuff is found under the bonnet, with a seriously well packed engine range, including a massive 3.5l V6. No word on how front-heavy that’ll make this feel but they seem to have done plenty of work on the suspension too to combat this.
The EVE ‘Family’ have revealed the Willow, the company’s first production EV. The odd looking four-door coupe is aimed at luxury buyers, with a proper HUD and the equivalent of 400hp under the bonnet. It should be good for 250 miles according to their tests, which is decent, though I certainly don’t see myself shelling out what will undoubtedly be a high price tag for a mid-size sedan. Then again, I’m not exactly this car’s target demographic anyway.
So it turns out that the ‘Project 400’ was an Ecamobile project. It’s a 7.5l bi-turbo V12 that will hit the magic 400 kmh mark, though unlike some hypercars, this has a more luxurious focus. It’s a decent looking machine that’s for sure, and in some parts even looks rather understated. It’s only a prototype at the moment however, and so far they’re only “expecting” production to begin in mid-2019, which frankly could mean mid-2030 for all we know.
The new Holts H2 made it’s debut, with an acre of black plastic on its lips and the world’s skinniest rear lights and the back. The entry-level sports coupe is decently equipped, though the entry level “H2S” trim leaves more to be desired with a 0-60 of 6.8 seconds. I reckon that could be faster. The standard model is far more amicable for this part of the market; 0-60 in under 5 seconds, 242 hp to boot etc etc. Now all we need to find out is how well it delivers that…
Holy mother of mackerel, Monolith have achieved the impossible. They told us that VVL wouldn’t be appearing on their 2018MY S270 pickup, yet there it is on the 2.7l turbocharged i4. That’s ot the scary bit however; the scariets bit is that somehow, this barge is capable of 48 mpg - apparently. That’s a hell of a lot for truck, and I almost can’t believe it. But if it is the case? Well, Monolith might have just saved the pickup from death by MPG restrictions.
Updated Nodha Assent etc etc new face etc etc some new engines etc etc. What else do you expect? It’s an Assent, of course it’s going to be practical and reliable. It’s also being offered with its updated Hybrid system, now called TwinDrive, which will apparently reach up to 81 mpg. What else is there to say?
An “affordable” hypercar. Are you sure Zasteros? Isn’t that just going against the point of a hypercar? And sorry to bring you down a notch but does 555 hp really constitute hypercar territory? Supercar territory no doubt, and more to the point, it’s 555hp in an MR car for just $66.5k. That’s certainly decent, though what the hell are you doing with Electric Steering on a performance vehicle. I mean, if there’s just one thing I want from a sports car, it’s the dumb, numb feel of electric steering when I’m shoving it through some bends.
I need to make a correction here; the ‘E’ in ‘LEC’ doesn’t stand for ‘Electric’. Still though, the LEC-MTR certainly looks interesting, with it’s prong like headlights and dinky boot spoiler. It’s essentially an advance techno-engineering sports concept, with 400hp under the bonnet and some very clever electronic gizmos. As you’d expect, it’s very fast, and with all the wording focusing on ‘racing’, one can’t help but hope that some of this will translate onto Rennen’s race cars in the near future.
The new Zenshi GT is here! Celebrating its 50th birthday, the graceful Japanese coupe continues the tradition with good looks, nice engines and an awfully tempting pricetag. What else is there to say really? It undercuts the GT market once again with price and performs well. They say old-habits die hard, but in this case, I think it’s more along the lines of “old-habits don’t need to die”.
AL Autos revamped their range (again), though this time the looks are actually really darn good (in most cases). The Latissime SUV is an SUV, the Motus sporty mid-size sedan is a
sporty mid-size sedan, and the Cursor MR hypercar is an MR hypercar.
The six-exhaust Nakamura SI-7 was unveiled today, and it turns out to be a decent-if-bloated looking Sports Coupe. V6 and V10 engines available, the latter of which is very fast indeed, decent pricing and even a racing version too. My issue? It’s just not very interesting. Japan produces plenty of performance cars and plenty of performance coupes, and this one doesn’t really seem to offer enough - at least for me - to make it worth considering.
The DMA press conference was very unusual. They handed out a load of press packs, as you’d expect, but didn’t show any pictures of their cars. Nor even did they actually show the cars they were revealing. It wasn’t so much a reveal as it was an information booklet handout.
Shromet’s new Adirondack is here! It’s big! It’s got chrome! It’s silver! It’s a pickup! Hell yeah, I already feel the need to grab my 12 gauge and find a burger joint. At least that’s what I think pick-up drivers do.
Scagliati’s Concetto Corse concept car (bit of a toungue twister that, eh?) is a very red, very loud looking hybrid sports car. It’s face is squat - I don’t think the LaSerenissma-esque styling works here - and its rear is punchy, and it’s very very light for what it is. At 1500kg even with its hybrid equipment, it’s certainly quite the piece of weight-saving engineering. What’s that? How fast does it go? Not a clue. They haven’t told us.
That does it for part 1 of Detroit, there should be some more tomorrow with any luck. I’ll see you then…
- Gavin Anderson
