The 2013 Autocar Performance Show held at the MMRDA Grouds at Bandra Kurla Complex concluded yesterday. The four day show featured a wide variety of products – from cars, bikes to aftermarket accessories. Brands like Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, Skoda,Toyota, Hyundai and Renault participated in the show. Our man Arnob Gupta, who’s generally too busy breaking landspeed records to take pictures, picked his camera and decided to cover the event for us this time around. Over to him then for a detailed report.
The Autocar Performance Show 2013 was clubbed together with a gadget exhibition (mainly electronics) from its sister publication, STUFF. There were also quite a few ancillary /accessory manufacturers, apart from outfits doing modification jobs, etc, which adds to a pleasant experience.
Once you say goodbye to Rs 150, the first exhibit is the JBL stage near the entrance, with a collection of cars having different systems. Sporadically, the stage erupts with sound, making people like me who value their hearing scurrying into the hall where the sound gets slightly muted. To take your mind off the sound, perhaps the most desirable cars are parked there – the Lambos, facing off the Rolls Royce on the other side of the aisle.
The next are the Aston Martins, facing off the classy Mercedes AMG SL63 convertible, and further down are the BMWs and mini coopers, next to a gorgeous red Jaguar F type. BMW, being into bikes as well, had their bikes duly on display as well. A bit further on the Ford range was displayed, as were Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat and Hyundai’s offerings. No new concepts/ drool maal here, just very sensible cars, which most will probably buy.
Now I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but it seemed that the companies were arranged in some sort of order of desirability/exclusivity/expense, what with the Roller, er, Rolls Royce near the entrance sharing prime spot with the Lambos, gradually giving way to the cheaper exotics, and then the cars which you don’t notice on the street even if in front of you, a sort of caste system as it were,…..I wonder why the Tata stall was at the very end, displaying the Storme, the Nano and the Vista. The Maruti stall was invisible as were their offerings.
The next hall had the KTMs near the entrance, and along with the 200 and 390 duke, was a hugely desirable RC8, as well as a dirt bike that had a very interestingly adjusted chain. Hyosung had the shiny ST7 and the Aquila pro on display along with two very similar looking sportsbikes, one displacing 250cc, and the other 650. Harley Davidson had three bikes on display including a Glide and the very cool and menacing looking Night Rod.
Interestingly, there were a couple of vehicles put together by college kids, one a racer with a 600cc engine, and another an eco challenge contender designed to push a litre of fuel the maximum distance. Kudos to those guys and their guides for taking up a project that really requires a heck of a lot of multidisciplinary engineering and conception, not to mention a lot of very hard work.
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