The Insignia is yet...
The Insignia is yet to appear in Vauxhallò€™s UK showrooms, but the firm has already pulled the covers off the ultra-frugal ecoFLEX variant.Revealed on the firmò€™s Paris Motor Show stand, the green version of theÒ Ford Mondeo rival promises to cut your running costs and carbon emissions without compromising on refinement ò€“ in fact itò€™s the quietest Vauxhall ever built!Powered by a 158bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine, the ecoFLEX family car produces less than 140g/km of CO2. Despite emissions on a par with many superminis, it will still be capable of 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds thanks to a torque overboost function which increases pulling power from 350Nm to 380Nm for up to 15 seconds.The key to the Vauxhallò€™s efficiency lies partly in its slippery shape. The standard Insigniaò€™s drag coefficient has been reduced from 0.27Cd to 0.26Cd, while special eco tyres are fitted to 17-inch alloy wheels.Prices are yet to be announced for the newcomer, which will go on sale in the UK next summer, but it wonò€™t sit at the bottom of the Insignia range. Instead it will be marketed as a mid-range variant with comfort and economy coming as standard.Meanwhile the Insignia Sports Tourer estate also made its world debut in Paris. The newcomer has a 540-litre luggage capacity with the rear seats in place, while the firm"s new FlexRide adjustable dampers are set up to adjust for heavy loads. The Sports Tourer will go on sale in the UK in March next year.
It"s impossible to name...
It"s impossible to name them all here, but a handful are, I predict, stars of tomorrow. Greg Shilton looks like a cross between Albert Einstein and pop singer Jarvis Cocker - so you wouldn"t expect him to have invented a futuristic, semi-autonomous commuter vehicle system. It effectively puts motorway drivers in long, computer-controlled trains of cars travelling inches apart, leaving spaces for vehicles joining from slip roads.
Daniel Durrant"s Nexum 2025 splits in two, so parents and teenagers can share it. He cheekily put a Nissan badge on the car, and I"d advise the firm to sign this level-headed man before a rival does. Bustami Pollard, a sharp-suited Singaporian Malaysian Italian Englishman, demonstrated his versatility with two different offerings. One was an electric Alfa Romeo supercar; the other a minimalist two-seater Ford public transport vehicle. He has style, an ability to think deeper than most, and isn"t a bad designer.
Others worthy of mention include Ezrin K Rajar"s SUV, which shrinks or grows like a trombone depending on how many people need to travel in it. His name will trouble the personnel desk, but Krzysztof Szews"s Momentum GT supercar will delight the boss. Mohammed Imran Younas stood out from the crowd, not least because he says in his notes to prospective employers that he couldn"t have studied hard and produced his Crez Vida sports car were it not for his dad"s money and his mum"s curry!
Cheeky, confident and cross-eyed - according to his email address - is John Buckingham of Southport, Merseyside, who deserves praise for his outrageously aggressive Lagonda. Aston Martin would be mad to ignore it. But spare a thought for Richard Carr, who had arranged a valuable work placement with MG Rover. Enough said.
Finally, there"s Mazda MX-5 driver Matthew Humphries who, as a student, penned the glorious Morgan Aeromax, which is now a running prototype and will surely make production this decade. He"s since designed an open-top Morgan, which was my fav-ourite. Humphries is currently the best young automotive designer in Britain, if not the world. He says he can"t wait for his first proper payday, so he can buy a corduroy suit. With the millions Matthew could make, such a modest ambition won"t be a problem.