Geneva motor show 2017: Cars to get excited about from Ferrari, McLaren, Pagani and more

Geneva is the jewel in the crown of the annual motor show calendar. While events at Paris, Detroit, Tokyo and Los Angeles offer no shortage of new metal and carbon fibre to drool over, it is the Swiss show which creates the biggest headlines.

Everyone from Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo to BMW, Ford, Ferrari, McLaren, Tesla, Lamborghini, Mercedes and many more will descend on the Palexpo centre in early March to show off their latest vehicles. IBTimes UK will be on the show floor on press day one to bring you the latest news and hands-on first impressions of the show's biggest launches.

But until then, here is everything you need to know about the 87th Geneva motor show, including dates, venue details and of course what cars we expect to be revealed.

When and where is the 2017 Geneva motor show?

The first two press days for the 2017 show fall on 7 and 8 March, with the show floor then open to the public from 9 to 19 March. The show is held at the Palexpo exhibition centre, which is next door to Geneva airport.

The show is open on weekdays from 10am until 8pm, and between 9am and 7pm on the weekend. Tickets cost 16 Swiss Francs (around £12.70) and are on sale now.

What cars will be at the 2017 Geneva motor show?

Alpine

Renault will use Geneva 2017 to bring its Alpine sports car brand out of long-term hibernation. Teased on YouTube, the new car is expected to be a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car producing around 250 horsepower and capable of reaching 62mph (100km/h) in 4.2 seconds. It will likely be seen as a more affordable alternative to the Porsche Cayman and Audi TT when it goes on sale later in 2017.

Aston Martin

The outrageous AM-RB 001 hypercar will have its European public debut in Geneva. The £3m car, built in partnership with Red Bull and designed by legendary Formula One designer Adrian Newey, will arrive on customer's driveways in 2019 and is claimed by Aston Martin to lap Silverstone as fast as an F1 car. For more on the 001, head over to our complete guide to everything you need to know.

Also on the Aston stand will be a special DB11 customised by the company's bespoke division, called Q - appropriate, given the car maker's links to James Bond. Finally, Geneva will be the global show debut of the new Vanquish S.

Dendrobium

Developed in Singapore but with technological know-how from the Advanced Engineering department of the Williams Formula One team, the Dendrobium is an all-electric hypercar. The highly aerodynamic body shares more with a race car developed in a wind tunnel than a road car, but a leather interior promises to offer at least a degree of refinement.

Little else is known about the vehicle, other than how its name comes from the opening of its automatic doors, which resembles the Dendrobium flower, an orchid native to Singapore.

Ferrari 812 Superfast

Revealed on 16 February, Ferrari will use Geneva to show off its new front-engined V12 grand tourer, the 812 Superfast. To replace the F12 Berlinetta (but with the performance of the hardcore F12 tdf), the Superfast is the most powerful front-engined Ferrari ever made, and also the most powerful Ferrari to not use an hybrid-electric system.

The car features the same quad taillights as the GTC4Lusso and an aggressive new look. Its 6.5-litre V12 engine, thought to be Ferrari's last ever to not be turbocharged, produces 789 horsepower, some 60 more than the F12 it replaces and 20 more than the F12 tdf. The car can hit 60mph in just under three seconds and has a top speed of over 211mph.

Prices have not yet been announced, but it is likely to start at slightly more than its £240,000 predecessor. But once a handful of optional extras are added into the mix, £300,000-plus examples of the Superfast won't be unusual. We will bring your our hands-on first impressions of the Superfast from Geneva's first press day on 7 March.

Fittipaldi Motors

Emerson Fittipaldi, Formula One World Champion in 1972 and 1974, has formed his own car company, called Fittipaldi Motors, and has partnered with legendary Italian design house Pininfarina. They have jointly created the EF7 Vision Gran Turismo, a concept car which will appear in the famous PlayStation racing game after it is fully revealed at Geneva. For now, we have a single teaser image to go off, showing complex aero, a large rear wing and mid-engine layout.

Ford

The new Fiesta ST will get its first public outing at Geneva. Announced on 24 February, the new hot hatch is powered by a new 1.5-litre turbocharged EcoBoost engine with just three cylinders. But with 200PS (197bhp), the car can hit 62mph (100km/h) in 6.7 seconds, exactly the same as the current flagship of the range, the Fiesta ST200.

Other changes include a new set of alloys, a new touch screen on the dashboard, a Track mode and Electronic Sound Enhancement, which supplements the exhaust note with a soundtrack played through the interior speakers - a trick first learnt by the Focus RS in 2016.

Jaguar

The all-electric I-Pace will make its European debut at the Jaguar stand at Geneva and it will be rocking a new colour for the occasion, called Photon Red.

Jaguar has already teased us with an image of the new XF Sportbrake estate, above. The car will share the same aluminium platform as the regular XF and XE, and is likely to be offered with the same range of diesel and petrol engines, too.

As much as we'd love to see Jaguar slot a V8 engine in the front and fix an SVR badge to the back, creating a super-estate to rival Mercedes AMG, evidence of this happening is thin on the ground for now.

Kia Picanto

Fresh from the launch of its Stinger GT super-saloon in Detroit in January, Kia will bring a new Picanto to Geneva. Already revealed in pictures ahead of us seeing it in the metal, the Picanto will be offered in a sporty looking GT-Line trim option. Unfortunately, a full-fat GT hot hatch is unlikely for now.

Lamborghini Huracan Super Performante

Speaking of full-fat, Lamborghini will use Geneva to launch a hardcore version of its Huracan supercar. Expected to be called the Performante (or even Super Performante), the car will be appearing as both a hardtop coupe and convertible Spyder, and will have been on a crash diet. Naturally, performance will be up on the regular Huracan, and so too will the price.

McLaren P14

One of the biggest stories to come from Geneva this year will be the new McLaren, known internally as the P14 and to be a replacement for the 650S. The car will use a new version of the carbon fibre tub shared with the rest of the McLaren range, and is powered by a new 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine.

Power will be up on the 641bhp produced by the 650S and performance is expected to be at least on par with its closest rival, the Ferrari 488 GTB. The 0-60mph sprint will likely be under three seconds and the top speed will be over 200mph. It will cost at least £200,000.

Pagani Huayra Roadster

Another hypercar highlight this year will be the Huayra Roadster by Pagani. Despite only launching its first car in 1999, the Italian company has cemented itself as a genuine alternative to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti. The soft-top Roadster comes five years after the original Huayra and will likely feature the same 6-litre, twin-turbo V12 engine producing 730bhp.

Pagani only produces around 40 cars per year, so Geneva could well be your only chance to see the Roadster in the flesh.

Update: 15 February

Pagani has revealed the Roadster. It costs £2m (plus VAT), there will only be 100 made, and all have been sold. The car can achieve 1.8G when cornering, which Pagani claims is more than any other car on road-legal tyres. There are two roof options included with the car; a carbon hardtop to store in the garage, and a canvas roof carried in the car for any unexpected rain showers.

Peugeot

The French car maker is using Geneva to give the new Instinct concept car its first public outing. Revealed on 27 February, the striking car is a 21st-Century take on the shooting brake body style. The car is intended to be driven by humans, but can also offer a fully autonomous mode, which is split into two options; Soft for a regular ride and Sharp for a faster self-driving journey.

Porsche 911 GT3 (facelift with new manual option)

Small cosmetic changes to the lights and bumpers will be immediately ignored by many, as the big news here is the addition of a six-speed manual gearbox. Porsche dropped the stick-shift option from its 911 GT3 in 2011, but after it saw huge interest in the manual 911 R in 2016, the manual 'box will make a return.

Range Rover Coupe

A left-field entry, the Range Rover Coupe is said to share its platform with the Jaguar F-Pace and will fit between the small Evoque and mid-size Range Rover Sport. A whole host of drivetrain options are being rumoured, from the usual line of petrol and diesel engines, to the supercharger 5-litre V8 of Land Rover's flagships; there's even talk of a an all-electric system like that of the 2018 Jaguar I-Pace. Ad for rivals, it looks like the Porsche Macan will be right in Land Rover's crosshairs.

Techrules GT96

Shown as a concept in Geneva last year, 2017 will see a production-ready version of the Techrules GT96 revealed. The Chinese hypercar is powered by a turbine-electric motor, where the battery's range is extended using energy generated by an onboard turbine. The car is likely to feature a carbon fibre chassis and by powered by six electric motors, producing around 1,000bhp. Techrules claimed in 2016 its car could hit 60mph in 2.5 seconds and reach a LaFerrari-matching 217mph.

But the biggest claim is the car's range. Techrules claims the GT96 can run for a total of 1,200 miles on electric power and aviation kerosene driving the turbine, and for 93 miles on electricity alone.