The Grimaldi Forum recently played host to the 21st edition of Top Marques, what has traditionally been a supercar show but has expanded over the years to include limited edition hypercars, a large selection of classic cars, restomods and luxury tuners, along with the odd aeroplane, quite a few unique motorcycles and even a couple of lunar rovers. The show included the unveiling of 16 new cars and plenty more wonderful things that you don’t see every day.
This year there was a dedicated space for luxury tuning companies that cater to those wealthy individuals who find a car manufacturer’s options list a bit too restrictive, despite the extensive range of colours, badges and carbon fibre parts that Ferrari, Rolls-Royce etc earn a large portion of their profits from. Whilst deep pockets are essential to join the luxury tuning club, good taste is optional.
If you are bored of having too much black and grey inside your car, you can have the whole thing decked out in any colour you choose, with orange, turquoise and baby blue interiors all working hard to brighten up your day. The bodywork can be more than one colour, it can be so bright you need to wear sunglasses, it can feature extra graphics and in some cases it will be pumped up to make the original car look as though it is on steroids. If you want to stand out in a crowd of billionaires, you should speak to the nice people at Mansory, Brabus or Urban. They know how to help you express your wildest dreams, or nightmares, in automotive form.
For those who prefer their cars to be elegant and refined, there was no shortage of classy classics on offer. Several Jaguar E-types rubbed shoulders with a single Lamborghini Islero from 1968, one of only 155 produced, although the rarest and possibly most valuable car here was the one-of-six Bugatti Type 41 Royale, a car that was designed for kings rather than pop stars.
However, a successful popstar from the 1980s would have been able to choose from a white Lamborghini Countach or a red Ferrari Testarossa, two of the most iconic cars from that era, both of which were posters on my bedroom wall when I was a kid.
The original classics were accompanied by a selection of restomods, older cars that have been upgraded to modern standards of performance, handling and safety. Icons that have been ‘reinterpreted’, as it were. Hedonic Machines lives up to its name, with a stylish take on the Porsche 911 Targa and the old Land Rover Defender.
At the other end of the market, but equally good at turning heads in Monaco, a range of colourful new(ish) Fiat 500s are a reminder that the Dolce Vita comes in all sizes.
But the stars of the show are undoubtedly the hypercars, some of which exist only in tiny numbers and which even a devoted carspotter may never see on the streets. The Delage D12 starts at 2 million euros and aims to be an F1 car for the road, within the appropriate speed limits of course.
Lafitte were back again at Top Marques with possibly the longest car of the show, something that looks like Batman’s weekend runabout, and the all-electric Rimac Nevera R impressed with a space age interior in mint ice cream green and 2,107 horsepower that it is claimed will catapult it to 100km/h in 1.7 seconds.
There are too many fascinating cars to mention here but one or two stood out for me. Sitting by the entrance to the Grimaldi Forum was a gold and black Alpine A110 that has been transformed into some kind of Paris-Dakar racer, with oversize knobbly tyres and a rooftop lightbar. It’s the kind of car you might see in the metal once in a lifetime.
The Aston Martin DB12S Volante looks like it would be the perfect car for cruising the Riviera, whereas you could buy the Pagani Utopia Roadster and just stare at it all day, such is the craftsmanship and engineering that has gone into a design where every component is both functional and exquisite.
Something else you don’t see every day: the Venturi Space European Lunar Rover, a vehicle designed to drive on the surface of another planet. Well, the moon anyway. With a maximum speed of 20 km/h it is probably the slowest vehicle on display at Top Marques, but it has a goldleaf solar panel to power its electric drivetrain, airless wheels to cope with the lunar terrain and styling that is reminiscent of the first iPod. It proves that a supercar doesn’t have to be fast in order to be amazing or captivating.
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Main photo credit: Richard McCreery