Best Of Frankfurt Motor Show 2011

As the small German city of Frankfurt enters its final three days of glamour and gloss in front of the eyes of the general public, the rush from the first Press Day on Tuesday 13th September has now finally worn off. And after an extremely tiring but fun two days in FF which saw my feet slowly morph into concrete slabs, I'm here to relive some of the good bits and some of the bad bits from the IAA 2011.

Favourite Concept Car - BMW i8

Frankfurt is usually the place to see the craziest concoctions from the auto world's greatest minds in engineering and manufacture. This year there were more concept cars than ever before looking to steal the limelight including the Jaguar C-X16, Volvo "You" Concept and Kia GT.

However the pick of the bunch for us was BMW's i8 concept car. This sleek and sexy car with its strange half-transparent doors encourages us to fantasize about the future. And if the future looks anything like this iRobot style sports car then go freeze me at the Cryonics Institute already. With scissor doors and multiple LED lights, this plug-in hybrid i8 can manage a 0-62mph sprint in under 5 seconds with amazing fuel consumption of 94mpg. Incredible!

Most Exciting Unveil - Land Rover DC100 Sport

Think thumping bass music, flashing spotlights, lots of sweaty men and you'll probably picture a scene from "insert not-so-classy local club name here". In fact, the reality is that you could have just stumbled upon the Jaguar Land Rover stand at Frankfurt 2011. Yes, believe it or not, JLR brought the party to Germany to welcome in their new concept vehicles in the shape of the DC100 Defender Concept. Unknown to the press, JLR also rolled in the bright orange Sport edition too which caused hysteria amongst the hoards of photographers. This was hands down the funnest launch to be at, and compared to this, most other manufacturers completely failed to hold my attention for longer than 2 minutes.

Largest Unnecessary Hype Around Vehicle Refresh - Porsche 911 Carrera

If you didn't catch my sarcasm then let me break it down for you. Yes Porsche is probably as German as they come. Yes the 911 is one of the most popular sports cars ever with a total of seven refreshes over its long tenure. But the crowds surrounding this updated 991 911 were too much for this least-updated car on show.

OK so it does look good and the wheelbase has been extended by a whole 10 centimetres. And apparently this will be the sportiest, most economical and most technologically advanced 911 ever created. But seriously guys, shift your attention towards some of the other groundbreaking cars that were at this event!

Best Celebrity Appearance - Rowan Atkinson

Whilst Jake Humphrey from BBC F1 was busy talking us through Lotus' design changes and new GTE, Mr Bean was hard at work on the Rolls Royce stand showing his illustrious charm and probably doing a bit of side promoting for his new flick, Johnny English 2. Needless to say, the comedian proved his worth by pulling in crowds who walked the whole 4km length of Frankfurt Messe to reach the Rolls Royce/BMW arena. There were a couple of mentions of the now infamous McLaren F1 crash but Mr Atkinson was on good form as ever, showing his acting abilities through numerous face contortions. One of Britain's finest doing us proud!

Superest Supercar - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster

The SLS AMG is no stranger to press. The original coupe has become a media darling with its heritage gullwing doors and its beautiful lines and shape. And whilst some have complained of a sore head upon vehicle exit, most have wished on the development of the SLS Roadster. And this amazing vehicle made its worldwide debut at Frankfurt 2011 which we were lucky enough to see in the flesh.

Putting on only a shed of weight, the SLS manages to keep the spirit and character of Merc's creation despite the loss of flappy doors but with the biggest allure being the "wind in your hair" driving experience. Indeed early reviews have signified that this car still drives like a ballistic missile in Sport mode and can become the ultimate Grand Tourer in Comfort mode. Making this easily the superest supercar we came across in Germany despite the presence of Lamborghini and Ferrari each with their own releases.

Best Hall/Building - Audi

To erect the Audi temple found in the Agora foyer area of Frankfurt Messe, the four-ringed brand dished out $1.3 million to craft the perfect venue to house their products. No expense was spared and the inside of the white-wash building even featured a racetrack similar to what BMW managed to procure during their building's construction.

It was amazing to see and as a sales and media tool, it really did the trick. A timelapse video even went viral showing the construction of the building which you can view below.

Car Throttle's Hottest Model Award - Lamborghini's Italians

And finally...what's an auto show without some beautiful girls? Frankfurt 2011 saw its fair share of models (the female type) descend upon its exhibition halls and despite some hot stuff from Skoda, Alfa Romeo and most other supercar manufacturers, the real talent was found on Lamborghini's stage. With big hair and even a catwalk parade later on in the day, these Italians strutted their stuff and I'm sure helped to convince a couple more photographers to take a few more pictures of the Aventadors they were standing next to. Marketing 101 and Lamborghini wins hands down.

Did we miss anything out? Feel free to hit us up in the comments section and perhaps share with us your best or worst memory from Frankfurt IAA 2011.