Top Marques Monaco: If Carlsberg Did Motor Shows...

If Carlsberg did Motor Shows, they’d probably look an awful lot like Top Marques, the most extravagant display of wealth this side of a Saudi Prince’s lounge.

It’s held in Monaco’s Grimaldi Centre over just four days (I heard Luton’s Community Centre just wasn’t available, bummer). Now in its ninth year, the show attracted nearly 35,000 visitors (to put that into perspective, this year’s Geneva Motor Show attracted more than 700,000 people), of which I’m prepared to bet at least three quarters own more cars than I do teeth.

Top Marques isn’t just the usual crop of Bugattis and Paganis though, with the odd “Special Edition” thrown in for good measure. Oh no. It's something much more interesting. Top Marques is where the world’s foremost minuscule boutique carmakers and tuners go to drum up a bit of publicity. Here are my favourites from a pretty special batch.

Spanish carmaker GTA are expecting to deliver the first of their £475k Spano super cars later this year. It’s powered by a supercharged 8.3-litre V10 with more than 800bhp, that means 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds, and a top speed of 217mph. Yikes. It also benefits from dustbin-lid six-pot AP brakes, adjustable suspension and an electronically activated rear wing. GTA say only 99 will ever be built.

The Roding Roadster is a lightweight sports car that’s been five years in the making. It’s got a turbocharged inline-six from BMW pushing 320bhp and 332lb ft of torque, meaning a sprint to 60 in less than four seconds. With a proper six-speed manual ‘box, and with power being sent directly to the rear wheels, the Roding is definitely one for enthusiasts. Sort of like a German Lotus Elise. Das ist gut, ja?

Who knows what the Dutch designers of the fantastically named Savage Rivale Roadyacht were schmoking when they penned this ambitious design. In doing so though, they may’ve designed one of my favourite looking cars of all time.

It’s a four-door, four-seat coupé with a 670bhp General Motors V8 capable of propelling the carbon-fibre body to 60 in four seconds, and on to a top speed of 206mph. Most interesting though, is the roof. Affectionately known as the Retractable Telescopic Multi Panel (RTMP), it’s made up of four glass sections that slide down to the boot via an extendable telescopic center arm. If that description makes no sense whatsoever, check out this video.

Savage Rivale used Top Marques to debut the track-spec’ GTR, which does without the folding hardtop, rear doors and lavish interior.

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