Frankfurt Motor Show 2009 - What's cool at Frankfurt? - 2009

It's day one of the biggest motor show in the calendar - some 12 halls of highly polished new metal and thousands of feverish journalists tearing around with notepads and cameras. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Nope. Which is why you're probably better off sat safely behind your monitor watching the whole thing unfold here on TopGear.com.

And you can do that in two ways - we'll be Tweeting the coolest new cars live from the show floor all day, plus updating the pages of this site with news and photo galleries once the covers start coming off.

Until then, here's our not-in-any-way-robbed-from-the-telly-show Cool Wall-style run down of the Frankfurt highlights, starting with the coolest:
 
SUB ZERO
Ferrari 458 Italia: Latest techno-fest from Maranello, developed by Das Stig. Best-looking Ferrari since, well, ever?
Mercedes SLS Gullwing: Spiritual successor to the 300 SL.
Maserati GranCabrio: Spiritual successor to... Oh, erm, we mean ‘gorgeous Italian droptop that makes us twitch with inappropriate delight'.
Abarth 695 Tributo: Special-edition Abarth 500 built in partnership with Ferrari. With flappy paddles.

COOL
Plethore LC-750: That Canadian supercar thingy we showed you last week.
Audi R8 Spyder: The R8 loses its roof and sideblade. We still want one.
Citroen 2CV: OK, it's actually called Rivolte (sounds disgusting) and it's another futuristic small Citroen.
Citroen C3: New French supermini looks cute and funky.
Citroen DS3: Posh version of the above. Note ‘shark fin' B-pillar, which we really dig.
Hyundai ix Metro: Tiny hybrid concept named after British Leyland classic.
Lexus LF-Ch: A rival to the BMW 1-Series at the posh end of the hatchback market. Looks like something from a sci-fi film and has hybrid tech.
BMW Vision Concept: M3 performance, low emissions and nutjob styling? Excellent.
Bentley Mulsanne: Enormous new luxobarge with stonking V8.
Audi RS3: The proliferation of the RS badge continues. We like.
Rolls-Royce Ghost: It's a cheaper, smaller Rolls that isn't small or cheap. But it is cool.
Jaguar XJ: The all-new XJ will be on show in Frankfurt, along with its ample arse.
Peugeot RCZ: A rival for the TT, and a Peugeot we're actually excited about.
New Ford C-Max: Ford's masterclass in funky family transport continues.
Bugatti Royale: New big Bug, named after a Burger King snack but probably faster. Expect to be blown away.

UNCOOL
Mini Coupe Concept: Its roof is modelled on a backwards baseball cap, a trend that died in the early 80s, only to be perpetuated by weird mobile disco DJs in Gravesend.
New Toyota Land Cruiser: A car enjoyed mostly by people who track rhino dung in Namibia.
Mazda MX-5 Superlight: A blatant rip-off of the Mercedes SLR Moss. Only smaller, slower and more embarrassing.
New Vauxhall Astra: Probably the most important car here, if you're into sales figures and socio-economic buying trends and the complex interplay between international political economies. Hello? Are you there? You've skipped to the next car already, haven't you?
New Saab 9-5: As driven by your granddad.
Toyota Auris Hybrid: The world's most boring car just got slightly more interesting. Works like a Prius. Built in Britain. Blah. Blah. Blah.

SERIOUSLY UNCOOL
Hyundai ix35: A segment-busting crossover to rival the, erm, segment-busting Nissan Qashqai in the segment-busting SUV/hatch segment.
Kia Sorento: A segment-busting crossover to rival the, erm, segment-busting Hyundai ix35 and Nissan Qashqai in the segment-busting SUV/hatch segment.
Nissan Leaf: An electric car named after some vegetation will never be cool.

So there you have it. Which cars are you most excited about? Use the space below to let us know...