Poll: Best car from Paris

With a mix of new models and concept cars at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, automakers showed off some fine sleds. We found a lot of cars we wanted to jump in and drive away right there on the show floor. Being a European show, names such as Jaguar, Lotus, Audi, and BMW stood center stage with drool-worthy vehicles.

Some of the cars touched an aesthetic nerve, works of automotive sculpture such as the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. The Ford Focus ST looked like affordable fun, and had us eager for the U.S. launch. While the Jaguar C-X75 tweaked our tech bone with its futuristic drive train.

Check out the cars and vote for your favorite.

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If a sedan seems like an old man's car, but you still want an executive class flagship, Audi offers the A7. Using the same excellent drive train and cabin tech as the A8, the A7 also features a hatchback design.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

Audi merely built the Quattro as a paean to the original Quattro model on its 30th anniversary, which is a shame because this is one good-looking vehicle, with retro lines that echo the 1980s. This new Quattro is built on the RS5 platform, using Audi's latest all-wheel-drive tech and featuring the engine from the TT RS.

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With a car like the Continental GT, Bentley is not going to radically restyle it. Rather, the car gets some subtle body work, a wider track, and a little more power cranked out of its twin turbo V-12 engine. Oh, and it can run on bio-fuel.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

We've been waiting a long time for BMW to release a 6-series update, if only to get rid of that ugly trunk lid. This concept presages the 6, its looks being very close to production-ready. Not everything we wanted from the 6, but close.

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Our contacts at Ford got tired of us begging for a hotted up Focus like they sell in Europe, so the company finally decided to sell one in the U.S. The Focus ST gets a direct-injection turbocharged 2-liter four-cylinder engine, generating 246 horsepower.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

The C-X75 is one of those miracles of technology, a mix of new drive-train components that delivers stunning performance and efficiency. This electric car uses micro turbines to generate electricity while showing a sleek and curvy design.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

Lamborghini built a new body for the Gallardo and swapped out structural elements for lighter pieces, resulting in a thousand-pound weight loss. Along the way, it made this car look nasty as hell.

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At first it looks like Land Rover merely made a compact car, something like a luxury Kia Soul. But the Evoque comes with all the off-road tech that makes its larger siblings so formidable where the roads end.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

Lotus cars delivered exciting performance, but the company seemed to limit itself. That era is now over with the advent of the new Lotus Esprit, a car that exhibits similar performance characteristics as models from Ferrari or Lamborghini. It will be a treat to see how Lotus handling fits into the supercar segment.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

Nothing particularly radical here, just a special edition of the 911. But something about its design gives it an appealing retro look. And its performance can't be doubted, pulling 408 horsepower from its six-cylinder engine.