Essen Motor Show 2008

Let's get straight to the essence of why the Essen Motor Show is one of the most important European events. It houses 550 exhibitors from 19 different nations filling 17 halls of the gigantic Messe Essen exhibition center. Make no mistake, this event is Europe's SEMA, and has been at the cutting edge of automotive culture for 41 years.

Within minutes of walking into the show, it's clear there's a new challenger to Audi's mantle as the favorite German car. For years, nothing has come close to taking a swipe at the Audi TT's crown.... until now!

While Essen was bursting with the cool TT, a new player had drifted into town, rolled up its sleeves and called the Audi outside for a good old-fashioned brawl. Say hello to the sexy new Volkswagen Scirocco.

The men from Wolfsburg were enjoying a huge presence at Essen, and it was clear the Scirocco was the new star quarterback of the VW team.

The manufacturer was backed up by a raft of big name tuners, who'd hurried to get their Scirocco's ready in time for the show. Names like Abt, Rieger, Zender, MTM and MS Design were but a few of those who had fettled the body and the powerplant.

The hype around the new coupe had even overshadowed the German premiere of the Mk6 GTI, with even VW offering its own modified Sciroccos. There was also a police-spec version - there's surely no cooler endorsement than when the German Polizei tune your motor...

The most extroverted of the tuner Sciroccos was Abt's lime green effort. Pumped up with a body kit including new bumpers, side skirts and a rear wing, it also had 30mm lowering springs, 345mm brakes and 19" wheels - although 20s were available. There was even a 40hp upgrade for the 2.0TSI motor.

One of the more interesting transformations was carried out by Rieger, who offered an R8-style front-end for the Scirocco, giving it supercar pretensions.

Can anybody explain why this coupe isn't coming to America?

So while the Scirocco was very cool, Audi hadn't been forgotten and there were a number of memorable TTs on display. However, the car that stopped us dead in our track was the PPI R8 Razor GTR. If there was an eighth day in the week, God would have called it Razor Day, and spent the full 24 hours building this supercar.

Every panel of the Razor GTR had been molded in carbon fiber, taking the opportunity to extend the fenders. The designers had also added intakes to the roof and side panels to force-feed more air into the supercharged V8.

It was the sort of car that if it confronted you after dark, you wouldn't hesitate to hand over your wallet and phone!

With 20" wheels at the rear and 19s up front, PPI aimed to create an R8 that handled as sharp as a razor. They also fitted six-piston calipers and 380mm rotors to ensure you stop fast.

PPI claims its mutant R8 will accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.7sec, and on to a top speed of... wait for it... 200.1mph.

At the other end of the spectrum was a Mk5 GTI, built as a joint project between VW and Pro Street Carstyling Concepts. During a previous visit they had outlandish widebody conversion for the Mk5 Jetta and latest Passat. This year, they had created something similar for the Golf. With its Lambo-style doors, the concept was definitely over the top, but the quality of the orange candy paint fading into black at the rear was exceptionally good.

As we'd seen in previous years, the German scene appears to be losing its trademark elegance and restraint, favoring more of a Fast & Furious import style. This was seen in the over-sized chrome wheels, rainbow paint and excessive use of airbrushed graphics and murals. And even though it wasn't our taste, the Germans do everything with such precision that you can't help marvel at the artistry and workmanship.

So while many of the new trends at Essen were actually old trends from North American, given a new twist, we definitely picked up a few tips from the show. The incredible interiors are certainly worth mimicking, and the racing themes are universally popular. So let's see how much of this filters into the Euro scene in the US over the next 12 months.