BMWBLOG just got back from the mind blowing Frankfurt Auto Show. I say mind blowing because the show is on a scale I can still hardly comprehend. The show is laid out over 12 separate buildings, connected by overhead moving sidewalks and covers over 592,000 square meters. This year, just shy of 100,000 visitors came on the first day open to the public. The Frankfurt Auto Show or, Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) runs from September 17th to September 27th. The show is so big they only hold it every other year, and roughly one in five visitors are from a foreign country. Two years ago, the Frankfurt Autoshow’s total attendance was 881,000.
The German car manufacturers go all out for the IAA. Audi builds a temporary building the size of a Walmart complete with an escalators carrying you in via a dramatic entrance. After the show, the building goes. BMW does not have a just any mere display. BMW has an entire building that is the size of some reasonable sized cities entire car show.
BMW’s building is two stories and has a large moving display where four BMWs drive in on a stage in a theater, get spun around on turn tables and then effortlessly disappear behind a moving curtain. As you walk about BMW’s building, you can randomly have an i8 or M6 fly by you. Seriously.
As far as car shows go, the IAA was over the top on concept reveals. Porsche’s Mission E concept is a fully electric Tesla fighter, though is sadly years away from production. Bugatti’s Vision GT Concept is slated only for a game console near you and it’s not intended for production, but man what a looker.
Mercedes Benz’s odd looking reveal was the Concept IAA which changes shape to optimize its aerodynamics. It looked like it would be a perfect fit for a 1930s Flash Gordon movie prop.
Audi’s all electric e-tron Quattro is rated at 311 mile range and powered by lithium ion batteries and is poised to take a shot at Tesla.
The German’s kept referring to Tesla, which incidentally did have a very nice booth at The Frankfurt Auto Show, but sadly they do not have a Model X there.
Some market ready cars made their public debuts. My favorite was the Alpha Romeo Giulia. The Giulia is a direct competitor to BMW’s M3 and purported to be faster around the ‘Ring than the M3.
The Alpha’s better looking and faster sedan had carbon fiber bucket seats and you literally could not get people away from this car to take a decent picture. It’s a stunningly good looking car that makes me want to be unfaithful to the Germans.
Jaguar’s new SUV, may be oddly called the F-Pace but it’s freaking gorgeous.
Bentley’s tops the charts in conspicuous consumption with its Bentayga. I felt like I needed to borrow a Rolex just to be able to sit in it.
Porsche revealed a 50 year old, new 911 that ditches the high revving flat six motors for smaller turbo charged units.
There are a ton of insane automobile tuners here too. My personal favorite is Akrapovic that makes some of the best sounding exhausts on the market. There are complete car tuners there too like Mansory which can provide your over the top Lambo with a full carbon fiber treatment, or bling the shit out of your Rolls if it doesn’t pop enough for you. Mansory did have a very mean looking Porsche Macan I wanted to take home.
The IAA is one place a car enthusiast can see unique cars, unseen anywhere else. ALPINA’s entire line-up was here as well. The new Ferrari 488 Sypder, check. The Lambo Huracan, it’s here too. I was surprised to find that tucked away in a side hall there are even classic cars, because why not? Everything else is here. SUV test track and F1 Simulator and I could go on and on, because the Frankfurt Show goes on and on.
The Frankfurt Auto Show or, Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) runs from September 17th to September 27th. It’s open from 9am to 7 pm. Tickets range from 14- 18 Euros. If you are a car enthusiast, it needs to be on your bucket list.
