Seen at Frankfurt: a few notable things.

OVER THERE

Although Chrysler Group will be launching the 300C sedan in North America next year, Dieter Zetsche, the company's president and CEO, took the opportunity of the 60th IAA, better known to many as the "Frankfurt Auto Show," to unveil the 300C Touring concept--and noted that this vehicle (realize that "touring" is a word used over there that essentially means "station wagon" over here) will not be available in the U.S. Like a wagon of yore, it is based on a rear-wheel-drive platform, although like a more contemporary vehicle, there will be an all-wheel-drive version available (there is 62% of the torque sent to the rear axle and 38% to the front). Like the 30OC sedan, the Touring is powered by a 5.7-liter HEMI V8. And also like the sedan, the E-segment wagon has the same overall dimensions: wheelbase, 3,048 mm; length, 4,999 mm; width, 1,881 mm; height, 1,483 mm. (For those of you who aren't metrically oriented, divide by 25.4 to obtain inches.) While we won't get the 300C Touring, we will be getting the Dodge Magnum, which is, well, not unlike the Euro car. Something for everyone.

BLUE OVAL: EUR0 STYLE

This is Chris Bird, design director of Ford of Europe, on the Ford Visos concept that was debuted at the IAA: "Above all, we wanted it to remind everyone that, despite the hugely competitive nature of today's automotive business, the young design group inside Ford of Europe can express themselves in a more esoteric way." That adjective isn't exactly the one that comes to mind for this sleek, comparatively compact coupe (about the size of a Focus) with room for four full-size humans--"innovative," perhaps, but not "esoteric" (especially not when the side glass is sheet-like with the B-pillar on the inside of it and the windshield, roof, and back light are seemingly a single piece). One of the notable things that the Ford of Europe designers did in developing the interior for the vehicle was call on Sony to help them with the interior electronics--certainly the sort of thing that more auto manufacturers ought to think about (no, not just Sony, but using consumer product companies like Sony to help out with things like electronics).

UPSCALE OPEL

Finally, a few words about the European portion of General Motors, Opel. Although its main news was the launch of the new compact Astra, it took the opportunity of Frankfurt to display a new concept vehicle, a rear-wheel-drive car that actually borrows its 344-hp engine from the Corvette and uses the RWD architecture that GM will be using for future vehicles. Who says synergies don't work?

The vehicle is long--with a 2,915-mm wheelbase--and wide--with a 1,666-mm track--but it certainly isn't a Pontiac. It has an overall wedge shape along its flanks, but the horizontal panels are slightly rounded, making the profile less aggressive than it otherwise would be.

One of the more interesting aspects of the vehicle is that although it appears to be a two-door, there are actually four. The setup is far more clever than that used for, say, the Saturn three-door coupe. Instead of using a suicide-door arrangement, there are pantograph hinges deployed on both sides of the vehicle. Consequently, the doors actually slide back, parallel to the body, without the need for minivan-like rails. Apparently, the four-bar approach has been attempted in the past, but they've been somewhat complicated. Just how Opel engineers have created the mechanism is being kept a secret.

OUI 

Citroen has about as much resonance in the U.S. as actor Gerard Depardieu. But just as Depardieu has far more run in France, so too Citroen is certainly relevant there, and in Europe, as well: it sold 1,312,0OO vehicles world wide in 2002, which was its sixth consecutive year of growth. There were two significant vehicles displayed in Frankfurt, one a production car and the other a concept.

The former is the C2, a three-door that seats four. From a production point of view, the C2 is based on what's called "platform 1," which is shared with the C3 and C3 Pluriel vehicles (all are built at Citroen's Aulnaysous-Bois plant). Yet the C2 has a wheelbase of 2.31 m, while the other two come in at 2.46 m. Still, there is a sharing of more than 60% of the parts on the platform. And in final assembly, 90% of the operations are the same. While small cars in the U.S. tend to be rather limited in what's offered in terms of available features, that's far from the case with the C2. For example, there are four available engines, three gasoline-powered (from the entry 1.1-liter to the 1.6-liter) and a 1.4-liter diesel engine. There's the SensoDrive, a manual/automatic transmission. Electric power steering. ABS. ESP. One interesting aspect of the hatchback is the clever hatch, which is designed so that there are top and bottom sections with the upper part being a window that opens so that there's access for reaching in and getting things out of the back even when the vehicle is parked in tight spaces (this is, after all, a "city" car). When the lower portion is opened, it has the wherewithal to support loads of 100 kg (or that's 220 lb. of tailgating). (A laser punching station was installed at Aulnay-sous-Bois to assure the alignment of the top and bottom sections.)

As for the concept car, it's called the "C-Airlounge," and it is in one sense, vehicle as room. But in another sense, it is a vehicle that has a sharp, air-cutting look thanks to the V-shape of the hood and sleek, smooth sides that, along with some discrete-but-effective air-flow control systems, result in a Cd of 0.26 for a sizeable vehicle (overall length: 4,880 mm, or 192 in.). The air-flow control systems are deflectors that are installed crosswise at the rear of the roof; wheel fairings in front of each of the wheels; air ducts between the front end and the wheel arches; and wheel rims that move the air toward the center of the wheels. Inside, however, there is a clever configurability: the club setup has seating for five and the ability to move the seats in the second row so that there is a "herringbone" configuration that has the two side seats moved to face the center; the premium comfort setup, wherein the middle seat of the second row is retracted into the floor so there is additional room for the two rear seats. It should be noted that the seats in question are white satin-finish leather. There's white silk trim on the armrests. There's woof carpeting. There is probably no thought of juice box holders....

RACY 

Certainly among the most impressive production vehicles--although "production" sounds somewhat exaggerated--is the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Yes, that's "McLaren" as in Formula 1 racing. And this two-seater has more in common with an F1 car than most of what is rolling along on the autobahn or elsewhere. And "rolling" is probably a word that wouldn't be used to describe what this exceedingly sleek vehicle would ever do as it has a 0 to 100 km/hr (that's 62 mph) time of 3.8 seconds. Notably, the body, or monocoque in this case, is constructed with carbon fiber, which makes it the first "series-produced" car to make such a thorough use of the material. (Advantages: up to 50% lighter than comparable steel components and 30% lighter than aluminum pieces. Not that steel and aluminum aren't used. For example, there's a steel rear axle. And there are aluminum engine mounts, to name just one application.) Beneath the skin, there is a substantial front structure that's meant to further enhance occupant safety. There are two conical carbon fiber pieces, each 620 mm long and 3.4 kg in mass, that are longitudinally placed and bolted to the aluminum structure of the engine mounts at the rear and to a composite cross member and horizontal panel in the front. In other words, there is a fully composite front crash structure. Even the seat frames are carbon fiber. The fibers are even used to reinforce the ceramic brake discs.

Beneath the carbon fiber hood is the first V8 to be developed by Mercedes-AMG. A 626-hp engine that provides a top speed of approximately 207 mph. Interesting aspects of this powerplant are that the pistons are forged (as are the con rods) and selectively fitted to the cylinders. Of course, as this is an AMG engine, it is hand-built.

By Gary S. Vasilash, Editor-In-Chief