Calvin Fisher spent two full days trawling the floor of the Paris Motor Show and he came away with these 6 observations.

1. You can't ignore the past

Many manufacturers tapped into their reserves and brought along models from their past to add some legacy to their stands. It worked. Not only could you appreciate the parity with their contemporary designs, but the likes of the Jaguar XJ6 and Renault 5 added splashes to colour in a world overrun with ten shades of business-grey.

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2. Nor the future

Concept cars still draw the masses, just ask anyone at the Renault exhibit. Despite a pair of retros, three mighty concept mobility solutions stood at centre stage and likewise dominated the entire exhibit hall. Our favourite was dubbed the 'EZ-Ultimo' – a car that answers a question nobody cared to ask. "What if Batman required a car far more French, and even more fabulous than his outgoing BatMobile?" Then there's the EZ-GO and EZ-PRO Concepts, a pair of bonkers Robo Cars. We are ready for this brave new world, especially if it resembles my personal favourite concept of the show, the Peugeot 504 reimagining, the E-Legend. The past is retro, and so is the future.

3. Cars are going digital in a big way

"Hello Mona Lisa, I'm cold." Wait. What? Sure, I'll explain. This is the command I directed at the dashboard of the new BMW 3 Series. It responded by dropping the AC temperature, just on my passenger side of the car. Clever, but in effect identical to the likes of Google Home and Amazon's Alexa. The best part is you don't have to call your BMW Smart Assistant Mona Lisa, you can name it anything, Monica? Or full name, so perhaps Monica Bellucci? And she has to listen to you. Finally!

4. Race cars equal sales

They were everywhere. Classic Ferraris and Porsches, circuit cars and dirt cars. Legends of Le Mans, Formula One and some now obscure rally raiders of the past. Many rolled out Formula E race cars, real and fictitious to enthral onlookers and to of course link their on-track electrification efforts to their road cars. Then there were the likes of the Hyundai i30 N race cars directly paralleling their upcoming production car's performance, arguably one of the most interesting new cars at the show. And then there was the Gazoo Racing A90 Supra will make its official appearance in Detroit early next year.

5. People are taking the Chinese seriously

If stand size, breadth of product range and crowd interaction are anything to go by, Chinese marques have just about come of age. The products are holding up well alongside rivals from established markets and no longer look 'borrowed'. Rather, emerging design elements found in Japanese and European vehicles have been 'lifted', or perhaps I should say inspiration has been drawn? Regardless, overall car styling feels familiar rather than stolen and there's a sense of cohesion previously lacking. Besides, with the arrival of two Vietnamese cars to the show (and therefore the industry) China will no longer be the new kids on the block.

6. The future is silent

EVs, Hybrids and more. Not only are they running rife, but they're doing it almost completely soundlessly too. And that's terrifying since the organizers thought it would be wise to use them as the event's official taxis. I could have died! Seriously, they're the ninjas of the automotive world and it's exciting to live int a time when thePrius is no longer synonymous with electrification. Citroen, Peugeot, Renault – every French car company now has skin in the game, I should know – I narrowly avoided many of them while traversing the halls.

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