TG’s top three cars of the Paris show

1. The first on my list isn't necessarily my best of show, but it's personal: the one that would fit my life sooooo well. The Audi TT Sportback. It's still got all the technology and aluminium-bodied goodness of the coupe, so it should drive decently.

But, in a TT first, a small person can be welcomed to the back seat. I don't need anything bigger or more saloon-y. I think the Sportback takes a well-loved design and stretches it rather successfully. More so than say the new Mini five-door anyway.

So it looks good and we know it's feasible in engineering terms. But Audi chief engineer Ulrich Hackenberg tells us it's more likely the first five-door TT will be a crossover, not this sleekly stretched Sportback. Pants.

2. Now for a far more out-there concept, the Divine DS. No mention of Citroen in the name, because the DS line is splitting off, so within a couple of years it will be just as separate from Citroen as Peugeot is. Maybe they should have called it the DS Divine.

Anyway, it keeps the grille surround that we've seen on previous DS concept cars (and which will be used for facelifts of the DS3, DS4 and DS5), and you'll recognise the embossed-diamond shapes in the upholstery, rear screen and elsewhere.

But elsewhere, the surfacing is very different from other DSs so far. It's lush and inventive, and looks expensive and distinctly French. Those things are exactly what the DS brand needs to do if it is to gain any more traction as it sets course for a long-term gradual ascent to the sunlit Audi-alternative uplands.

3. I'd like to pick the Volkswagen XL Sport as my third. It's the very finest distillate of what a sports car should be. Light, stiff, focussed, quick but not bonkers-powerful. I can imagine getting a real thrill out of this on a good road, and it looks gorgeous. Other bike-engined specials look too homely and are near unuseable except on a track.

But I'm not going to pick the XL Sport because I'm annoyed that VW refuses to sell it. So it's the Ferrari Speciale A. This is the open-sky version of the most hear-acceleratingly rewarding car I've ever driven. I'm powerless to resist.

1. Having visited Sant’Agata a few months ago when the Asterion still only existed in the virtual realm, seeing the finished car was another reminder of how just fast this industry moves.

Large quantities of midnight oil were burnt readying the Lamborghini Asterion for its roll-out during the Volkswagen Group’s epic pre-show preview, and bits of the design were still being tweaked at the eleventh hour.

So it was fascinating monitoring the reaction. Lamborghini simply can’t survive if it doesn’t embrace down-sizing or hybrid technology, and though electrification adds weight – a reality that’s at odds with the company’s big investment in carbon fibre – the Asterion is one hell of a dry run.

Some people thought it looked too tame, but after a run of cartoon show cars and crazy low volume specials, I actually find the Asterion’s restraint refreshing.

2. Good to see the Jaguar XE in the flesh, too. With a new factory, new engines and a costly aluminium platform, Jaguar hasn’t just bet the farm, it’s wagered a big chunk of the Midlands on this car.

Motor shows can be harsh environments, but even without the class-leading fuel consumption figures and CO2 numbers, the XE generates a strong ‘want one’ impulse.

3. Finally – and that really is the word – I lucked into a ringside seat as Ferrari’s Chairman Luca di Montezemolo delivered his last motor show press call. That he was standing alongside the 458 Speciale A – likely to be the last and ultimate iteration of normally aspirated Ferrari V8 – was fitting.

Montezemolo has always cultivated a presidential air, and speculation is rife about exactly what brought about his demise after 23 years. But the man had a tear in his eye, and the emotion was absolutely genuine. It’s proof that this business can still be intensely personal.

I doubt I'll be alone in putting in a vote for the VW XL Speed as one of my stars of the show, and I really can't see VW, that most pragmatic of car companies, ever putting it into production, but boy, oh boy do I want one in my life. Ducati v-twin, 11,000rpm, 197 naturally aspirated, screaming horsepower, seven speed twin clutch gearbox and 890kg kerb weight courtesy of the carbon tub. And best of all, it was a surprise. 

No surprise in seeing the new Mazda MX-5 at the show, and I think the front end styling with those curiously low and pointy headlights is a bit much. But I loved the rest of it, especially the size – it's small and dainty, and the engineering is endearingly simple – no mention of electric this or hybrid that, just driving fun courtesy of a sweet rear-drive chassis.

The MX-5 will probably cost less than the rear tray table in my last nominee, but the single greatest thing I saw at Paris this year was indeed a rear tray table. It (actually they, there was one either side) was in the back of the Rolls Royce Metropole, a 500-piece marquetry wood puzzle with steel highlights, showing a city scape. It was artistic and art-deco, completely hand made and finished and as an example of the craftsmanship of the company it was just sublime. Best of all, when you flipped the tray table out, there was another scene - the same city scape, but viewed from higher up, as if you were looking down on the city. Staggering stuff.

Oh, and a cheeky extra one – the touchscreen system - oh hang it, the whole interior - of the new Volvo XC90.