The Most Outrageous Cars From Frankfurt

If you think this is one bizarre-looking car, remember what your mom told you about beauty being more than skin deep. Push past the underbody lighting and strange lines and you'll find the most appetizing recipe for a green machine we've seen so far. BMW says the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept can kick to 60 mph in around 4.8 seconds, courtesy of a turbodiesel plug-in hybrid drivetrain. All the high-tech, fuel-saving goodies provide this concept with a fuel-economy rating of around 62.6 mpg. Part of both the performance and green rating come courtesy of two electric motors: a 33 horsepower unit mounted between the engine and transmission and an 80 horsepower motor positioned at the front axles.

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BMW isn't the only company at Frankfurt looking to prove that green doesn't have to equal boring. Audi pulled the sheet off the e-Tron Concept — a fully electric car based on the mighty R8. The company also wasted no time in showing off a new V10 version of the car with 100 extra horsepower, but the e-Tron uses four electric motors to provide its power. You'd better sit down for the stats on this concept. Audi says the four motors put out a combined 313 horsepower and a jaw-dropping 3,319 lb-ft of torque. We kid you not — 3,319 lb-ft.

View Pictures:  Audi e-Tron

Ferrari made some big waves in Germany with its new 458 Italia, but corporate cousin Fiat tried to make a Prancing Horse-sized splash of its own. As you may have guessed, Fiat's Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari has fewer ponies under the hood than the Italian-made supercars it hopes to celebrate. The little 500 is powered by a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with a surprising 180 horsepower, and makes use of an automated manual transmission. Fiat has also thrown in more aggressive body kit and dipped the whole package in Scuderia Red to get most of us as close as we'll ever be to the Ferrari experience.

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If you got a giggle out of Fiat's Ferrari tribute, French automaker Peugeot's BB1 Concept should be a sidesplitter. The company is dead serious when it says the BB1 is the result of a twisted tryst between scooter and car. Supposedly, the concept can seat four people in the same footprint as the smart fortwo. Tiny electric motors at each wheel crank out a minuscule 20 horsepower combined, and batteries are recharged in part by a solar-panel roof. Top speed? Range? Peugeot's not saying, but we can expect figures in the glorified golf-cart zone. Don't expect to see the BB1 taking up spots at your local Starbucks any time soon.

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Mercedes-Benz has been responsible for some beautiful cars in its long history, but the 1950s 300SL coupe takes the cake as one of the most iconic. The company has resurrected the car's gull-wing design with its new SLS AMG supercar. Aside from a unique entry point, the car gets its power from a mighty 6.2-liter V8 engine with 571 horsepower. The eco-minded needn't worry, though. Mercedes says it's already hard at work on an electric version of the car. Given the astronomical torque figures from the Audi e-Tron, we wouldn't be too surprised if the electron-powered SLS turns out to be quicker than the gasoline car.

View Pictures:  Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

The MINI name celebrated its 50th anniversary recently, and parent company BMW celebrated with two hot new concepts, one of which is a coupe. Whereas MINI has traditionally stuck to what works with its 5-passenger hatch, the new chopped concept allows room for only two. Fewer seats mean fewer pounds in a car that weighs next to nothing already, and BMW says a sharpened suspension and potent 4-cylinder engine make the Coupe Concept quicker than anything that MINI is currently producing. Will we ever see the new MINI on the street? Judging by the concept's overwhelmingly positive reception, we wouldn't be surprised.

View Pictures:  MINI Concepts

Haven't heard of Weismann? The company is a tiny German manufacturer specializing in pricey sports cars, and the new MF5 roadster is one of the most powerful versions to date. According to the company, a tuned version of BMW's M5-sourced V10 engine puts 507 horsepower to the rear wheels. Thanks to a lightweight design and some special gearing, the car can manage a zero to 60 mph time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 192 mph.Of course, a production run of just 55 examples will ensure that only those who can afford the $250,000 price tag will have heard of the company in 10 years.

Tesla secured a sizable loan from the U.S. government to produce its Model S electric sedan, and the company celebrated by unveiling the car in Frankfurt. Harkened as the "people's Tesla," the car should cost around $50,000 after tax incentives and do the zero to 60 mph dash in around 5.5 seconds, the company says. You can opt for one of three battery packs, each with a different range and price tag. How long will it take to top off the cells? That depends on what kind of outlet you use, but the company says juice from an external direct-current supply will put the Model S at 100 percent in 45 minutes.

View Pictures:  Tesla Model S

Mazda is credited with single-handedly returning the roadster to its inexpensive, lightweight roots with the Miata. The world's favorite drop-top just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and the Japanese automaker decided to mark the occasion with an exercise in extremes: the MX-5 Superlight Concept. Penned in the same vein as the elegant and simple European speedsters of old, the Superlight sacrifices superfluous hardware like the windshield and retractable top to the gods of speed. An elongated aluminum hood throws in a dash of class, and a host of go-fast goodies accompanies otherwise stock powerplant hardware. Chances of seeing this thing in production are next to nil, but that doesn't stop it from being one of our favorites of the Frankfurt show.

View Pictures:  Mazda MX-5 Superlight

Leave it to Brabus, the tuner of all things Mercedes-Benz, to flip the green movement the bird in the grandest style possible. The company has managed to wring a full 788 horsepower from the S65 AMG's 6.3-liter V12 engine. Even more impressive is the lofty 1,047 lb-ft of torque — a figure so large the company limits the actual output to 811 lb-ft to keep the transmission from exploding on acceleration. All of that visceral grunt gets the E V12 to a top speed of 211 mph and helps it click off to 60 mph in four seconds flat. If you have to ask what kind of fuel economy this thing gets, you're at the wrong booth. Oh — the price? $726,980.

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