The best of British at Geneva

Britain may not be the hub of car making it once was, yet a good handful of the very best metal on display at Geneva this year has its roots firmly in the UK. What's more, they range from planet savers - like a revolutionary green family saloon (set to alter the motoring landscape) - through to a supercar many believe is quite simply the most astonishing ever made, full stop. Read on to find out about those and the other three stars that make up our UK top five Geneva show cars.

Lotus Evora | View pics

Lotus actually went the patriotic route and gave the Evora its proper debut at the British Motor Show last July. However, since then Lotus has nailed down exactly the right formula for the car it hopes will widen its appeal beyond hardened driving enthusiasts. The Evora promises to be comfortable, reasonably spacious (for a Lotus) and seat two proper adults and two much smaller ones in long distance comfort. Lotus confirmed that the mid-engined V6 Evora will come in 2+2 form or as a two-seater only, costing around £50k and that buyers can specify a myriad of luxury and sporting upgrades: a reversing camera or wood trim, for instance. In a Lotus? The maker really is growing up.

Aston Martin One-77 | View pics

Stunning. The Aston Martin One-77 is the ultimate embodiment of what Aston should be: beauty, power, presence and exclusivity. And on its Geneva plinth it ticked all those boxes. Only 77 will be made at a price of around £1.2m each, but for that buyers will get a hand made aluminium body stretched over a carbon fibre chassis, all inspired by DTM racing - so it'll drive like nothing Aston's ever made before. Power comes from a 700bhp 7.0-litre V12 linked to a sequential automatic gearbox and all 77 customers will be involved in both the way their car is setup to drive and how it looks inside - from the materials used, to the way it's laid out. Our advice to them: just go with what Aston suggests, please.

Vauxhall Ampera | View pics

Ok, so this is technically an Opel, but when it comes to the UK, badged as a Vauxhall, it will mark a seminal shift in the way we think about our cars. This was one of the genuine stars of Geneva, thanks to a combination of 'I'd like one of those' styling, 'I could use one of those' practicality, and 'I could afford one of those' running costs. Perfect, then. You probably know the score by now, but to refresh, the Ampera runs on electricity alone up to 30-miles and can be charged from a household socket to get the juice required. But, when the battery runs out a petrol generator fires up to keep things going for another 300-miles. Vauxhall reckons that equates to an 80 percent running cost saving per mile over an equivalent petrol saloon; a proper planet and bank balance saver then. And it looks great.

Bentley Continental Supersports | View pics

This is our kind of green car. Well, it's not green at all really, but it's a step in the right direction for the Crewe maker. The Continental Supersports is 'green' in two specific ways: firstly, it's lighter for better performance, which aids fuel economy as a happy by-product, and secondly, more deliberately, it will run on E85 bio-fuel or any mix of that and petrol, reducing overall carbon emissions. First and foremost, however, this is an even meaner version of the Bentley Continental Speed, so it features a twin-turbo dozen-cylinder 'W12' engine, propelling the GT to 62mph from nought in 3.9 seconds. A meaty 621bhp sees to that and 590lb.ft of pulling power means this provides one of the easiest means to overtake a caravan ever.

Lagonda Concept | View pics

This list could have easily featured more Aston Martins, but we've limited it to two, the second of which is technically not an Aston Martin. The maker shocked Geneva with the surprise re-launch of a century old (yet almost forgotten) luxury brand: Lagonda. In a nutshell, Aston Martin has seen how many massively priced barges are changing hands in emerging markets like Russia and China and thought 'we'll have some of that.' So, Lagonda is revived with a monster V12-powered 4x4 design study (that's all it is - you won't see it in a showroom) that signals the start of a raft of huge luxury behemoths from the Gaydon Factory. Aston Martin could never make a 4x4, but Lagonda could. The study has a grille the size of Wales and its jutting rear end makes the old Mégane's look bulimic. Other road users will absolutely hate it... and that's what makes it so darned brilliant.

(Extra images by United Pictures)

Mark Nichol