Paris Auto Show Outtakes: Oddities, Micros and Pole-Dancing Acts of Desperation

by Paul Niedermeyer

Published: October 9th, 2010

paris auto show outtakes oddities micros and pole dancing acts of desperation

Having survived my first immersion, it’s clearer than ever to me why TTAC doesn’t “do” auto shows in the usual manner. The relentless PR pressure and hype is tedious. And in some cases, it borders on the absurd or desperate, like the Isuzu pole dancers. True, without her rubbing her oversize derriere to the booming beat on the pole installed in the back of a pickup, it’s doubtful that Isuzu would have had any attention whatsoever. Like the Honda and Mitsubishi stands, for instance, which were deserted. But there were pockets of interest, genuine and contrived.

As previously pointed out, if you didn’t bring an EV to Paris, you were nobody. But an electric sno-cat?

Speaking of EVs, here are the rather fanciful “controls” for Toyota’s EV Concept. I think I recognize a cup holder, but the rest looks rather mysterious.

If you’ve had kids, you can imagine what this Bentley GT convertible kiddie seat will look like after five minutes with an occupant that’s been given a juice box and a cracker.

This interior doesn’t exactly invite trips to the drive-through either.

I like tall boxy vehicle more than the average person, but this “self-driving transporter of the future” takes it a bit too far.

I discovered a whole hall dedicated to “micro-cars”, which are quite popular in France and certain other EU countries where drastically reduced taxes, license requirements and operating costs are in effect. European kei-cars, in other words. Here’s a real mini, and cute as a button.

The Ligiers are quite common on the streets of Paris. Their two-cylinder diesel engines source from Yammar makes them a convincing modern update on the original Fiat 500, in size, speed and sound.

This little micro-sports car was so small, I just had to put myself next to it for perspective. No, I didn’t even try to get into it.

The Austin Healey Bug-eye Sprite was also emulated, this time with a mid-engined 600cc twin-cylinder mill. Probably just as fast as the original.

The Citroen Mehari has its clones as well.

Speaking of kei-cars, here’s an authentic one from the sixties, a coupe version of the Mazda 360.

Micros come as trucks too. Saw a number of these on the streets. Enough mini cars; how about another sort of mini?

If it wasn’t an EV, it was likely to be draped in green, like every Skoda (and booth babe) on its stand, boldly proclaiming its CO output on sides and hoods.Why wasn’t her CO output tattooed on her thighs?

Enough already! That’s what I said too, after my five hour dash through all the halls; some kind of record, possibly.

Paul Niedermeyer

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2 of 17 comments

Steven02 on Oct 10, 2010

The Toyota EV Concept controls reminds me of something out of a James Bond movie in the 70s.

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Slow_Joe_Crow on Oct 11, 2010

The Yanmar diesel in the Ligier is a step up, they used to use air-cooled Lister-Petter diesels, as found in Benford site dumpers. Really rugged, but seriously noisy.

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Recent Comments

Analoggrotto Junior Soprano lol
GrumpyOldMan The "Junior" name was good enough for the German DKW in 1959-1963:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_Junior
Philip I love seeing these stories regarding concepts that I have vague memories of from collector magazines, books, etc (usually by the esteemed Richard Langworth who I credit for most of my car history knowledge!!!). On a tangent here, I remember reading Lee Iacocca's autobiography in the late 1980s, and being impressed, though on a second reading, my older and self realized why Henry Ford II must have found him irritating. He took credit for and boasted about everything successful being his alone, and sidestepped anything that was unsuccessful. Although a very interesting about some of the history of the US car industry from the 1950s through the 1980s, one needs to remind oneself of the subjective recounting in this book. Iacocca mentioned Henry II's motto "Never complain; never explain" which is basically the M.O. of the Royal Family, so few heard his side of the story. I first began to question Iacocca's rationale when he calls himself "The Father of the Mustang". He even said how so many people have taken credit for the Mustang that he would hate to be seen in public with the mother. To me, much of the Mustang's success needs to be credited to the DESIGNER Joe Oros. If the car did not have that iconic appearance, it wouldn't have become an icon. Of course accounting (making it affordable), marketing (identifying and understanding the car's market) and engineering (building a car from a Falcon base to meet the cost and marketing goals) were also instrumental, as well as Iacocca's leadership....but truth be told, I don't give him much credit at all. If he did it all, it would have looked as dowdy as a 1980s K-car. He simply did not grasp car style and design like a Bill Mitchell or John Delorean at GM. Hell, in the same book he claims credit for the Brougham era four-door Thunderbird with landau bars (ugh) and putting a "Rolls-Royce grille" on the Continental Mark III. Interesting ideas, but made the cars look chintzy, old-fashioned and pretentious. Dean Martin found them cool as "Matt Helm" in the late 1960s, but he was already well into middle age by then. It's hard not to laugh at these cartoon vehicles.
Dwford The real crime is not bringing this EV to the US (along with the Jeep Avenger EV)
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Another Hyunkia'sis? 🙈