By Leow Ju-Len

JUST AS IT seems that green shoots of economic recovery are beginning to sprout, the Frankfurt motor show has seen a timely explosion of cars aimed at the wealthy (”high net worth individuals” to banks, “rich sods” to you and me).

This year’s show - the biggest in the auto industry - saw something new from each of Italy’s three main supercar players, new super saloons from two of Britain’s most storied carmakers, and a modern interpretation of one of Mercedes-Benz’s most famous cars.

Many of these were most likely conceived when times were still good and then held back as the world economy was seized by credit constipation, but now that bankers are beginning to receive hefty bonuses again, the industry will have felt safe to dust off its grandest offerings and parade them before the world.

Bentley, for example, brought an all-new sedan to the show and gave it the historical “Mulsanne” name. Inspired by what Bentley says was the “largest and most luxurious” car in the world in 1930, the new Mulsanne is billed as a real driver’s car. Says who? Says the 6.75-litre V8 under the bonnet, with its brawny 505bhp and 1,020Nm of peak torque, enough to tear the skin off the Earth at the flex of an ankle.

Although the flagship Arnage dies at the end of this year, Bentley says the new Mulsanne isn’t a direct replacement (which leaves room at the top of the range for an even larger, plusher and more expensive new Arnage).

The first Mulsannes will be built and delivered next year, so don’t expect to see it here before then.

Aston Martin has a slightly different take on the luxury sedan, and the Rapide prototype shown at the 2006 Detroit auto show was obviously given a strong-enough reception for the car to get the green light, hence its appearance at Frankfurt as a production model.

The lines have been tweaked to provide more headroom for rear passengers, but the production Rapide is remarkably true to the show car. It’ll seat four in opulence, with a boot that expands from 301 to 710 litres when the rear seats are (electrically) folded, and being an Aston it will be swift.

The 6.0-litre V12 packs 470bhp, enough to punt it to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds, but there are Maserati Quattroportes which are equally swift, so the Rapide will have to trade on its exclusivity or styling, rather than outright performance.

Speaking of Maserati, the newly-resurgent brand unveiled its eagerly-anticipated GranCabrio, a topless version of the gorgeous GranTurismo coupe which is credited with restoring the company to profitability.

Armed with a 4.7-litre V8 that makes 433bhp means it won’t be slow, although Maserati has been keener to emphasise that it has the longest wheelbase in its class, meaning rear passengers ought to fit nicely into the rear without the assistance of an axe.

The roof is a cloth affair, but the simpler packaging of a soft-top (as opposed to a metal roof) has allowed the Maserati to retain the svelte, proportionate lines of the GranTurismo.

Expect the GranCabrio to form part of a family of models, with different engine versions to become available with time. It won’t be until next year till you see one in the flesh, however.

That much is true, too, of Ferrari’s 458 Italia. The numbers hint at what’s at the heart of the car: a 4.5-litre V8. That sounds relatively modest, but it’s been tuned for 570bhp at a dizzying 9,000rpm, which in turn will blast the Ferrari to 100km/h in just 3.4 seconds. If you can find a private runway, it should show you 325km/h.

More importantly,the 458 Italia hints at some of Maranello’s current thinking: more dramatic, in-your-face styling, lots of emphasis on aerodynamic efficiency, and liberal use of F1-derived technology. For example, the differential, braking and traction control systems are all electronically integrated to give the car more stability and better drive out of corners, which should help to make swifter laps easier than in previous models.

Lamborghini’s Frankfurt offering was more of a one-off, in the form of the Reventon Roadster.

The extreme, fighter-jet-on-wheels styling of the Reventon coupe from 2007’s Frankfurt show has been given a topless interpretation for the Roadster, while the mechanicals are lifted off the Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce, meaning a 6.5-litre V12 with 670bhp powering all four wheels. The first 100km/h arrives in 3.4 seconds, and keeping the throttle nailed gets you to 340km/h.

Just 20 will be built, but bears an ex-factory pricetag of 1.1 million Euros (or roughly S$5 million by the time the taxmen get their share). Will we see one here? Well, according to our reliable sources, the taxmen here should soon be swimming in a pool of money that doesn’t belong to them – there’ll be more than just one.

Mercedes-Benz has larger ambitions for its SLS AMG, which pays homage to the fabulous 300SL gullwing from 1954. That means that, apart from having doors that swing upwards, the SLS seats passengers just ahead of the rear axle, behind a long, swooping bonnet.

A 6.2-litre V8 (worth 471bhp) powers the car, driving the rear wheels through Mercedes’ first double-clutch gearbox, a seven-speeder. Building the car out of aluminium has kept the flab at bay, while the long nose allows the engine to sit well back for a 48/52 front/rear weight distribution. That should make it deceptively nimble, as well as blisteringly quick: 100km/h comes up in 3.8 seconds, and it’ll hit 315km/h.

Deliveries begin early next year, but Mercedes is working on a twist: the SLS AMG will eventually be available as an electric car.

In this guise it will have an electric motor for each wheel (totaling 392kW and 880Nm of peak torque), and the acceleration should be comparable (100km/h in 4 secounds). A water-cooled lithium-ion battery supplies the power, but no word has been released yet on range or charging requirements.

The electric SLS wasn’t the only electric car to feature at Frankfurt, of course, but it provided an eye-catching showcase for a possible propulsion mode of the future.

Most likely the car will be used as a tech validator - if electric drive turns out to be popular, reliable and even profitable in the SLS supercar, expect it to trickle downstream to other Merc models.

Ferrari, Lamborghini and the rest must be watching carefully, for if this particular future for supercars turns out to be workable, it will have kicked off at Frankfurt this year.