Frankfurt motor show 2013: CAR’s A-Z guide

By Ollie Kew Motor Shows 19 August 2014 15:00 The 65th Frankfurt motor show kicks off on 10 September 2013. The event features 1000 exhibitors and is set to attract around 1 million visitors during its fortnight in the spotlight. This is CAR Online’s handy A-Z guide to the 2013 Frankfurt show, rounding up all the important new cars expected at the event, with links to our complete coverage on every vehicle that matters.

Mercedes GLA goes in to production in Germany

The Mercedes GLA (pictured) goes in to production The new Mercedes GLA – Mercedes’ latest spin-off from the A Class – arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September as an urban SUV come Crossover, extending Mercedes reach in the premium compact sector with a serious competitor in the urban SUV market. With the growing fondness for high-riding cars – and something that’s a bit butch too – the SUV/Crossover take on the Mercedes A Class is a sound way to go and now, with production starting in Germany this week of the new GLA, Mercedes is getting close to having the GLA in customers’ hands. The first GLAs to get in to the hands of customers will probably be the GLA Edition 1 – a launch model with plenty of toys – but the model that will perhaps be most interesting is the GLA 45 AMG, with the promise of the same rufty-tufty compact SUV goodness as the rest of the range but with the 4WD platform and high performance 2.0 litre Turbo from the A 45 AMG.

Banks and Dallenbach ready for Pikes Peak with 1,400 hp

Not content to rest on his laurels after developing new diesel engines for military applications, Gale Banks and his company Banks Power will run a 1,400-hp, 1,301 lb-ft methanol-fueled vehicle up the now completely paved course at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 8-12. Banks teamed up with Paul Dallenbach and Leonard Arnold of Dallenbach Racing for the occasion.