The automotive industry is gathered in Frankfurt, Germany this week, showing off its most exciting new ideas - and a few of its worst. Alongside the heartbreakingly beautiful Aston Martin Rapide, the absurdly powerful and emissions-free Audi e-Tron and the practical, affordable Ford C-Max, for instance, we have such gems as a $900,000 ride for Darth Vader, the rebirth of communism's worst car, and a car that looks like a fetus.

The headline at Jalopnik captures the Brabus E V12 perfectly: "Lord Vader, Your Clichéd Headline is Ready." A modified Mercedes-Benz E-Class covered in matte black carbon fiber, the E V12 is said to be the world's fastest production sedan. With an 800-horsepower V12 and a 0-to-60 time of 3.7 seconds, it may well be. The problem is in those modifications.

They include the light-swallowing matte black paint job, as well as rear wheels completely enclosed by the bodywork (though character lines slashed into the wheel skirts lend it a certain Batmobile air), and, worst of all, a clear hood. You know, because the look isn't cartoonish enough the engine is visible to everyone. "Check with your financial adviser about cutting a slush fund check for $875,000," says Autoblog.

Of course, if capitalism's excesses bother you, you could always embrace the cars of communism. The New York Times reports, "The electric Trabant is having its 15 minutes of fame at the Frankfurt auto show. What happens next is anybody's guess." The Trabant was once "a symbol of East German industrial failings for more than three decades before production of the unreliable car ceased nearly 20 years ago." Americans might know the Trabant as "a common sight in news footage when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, as thousands of East Germans abandoned their cars on their way to the West. Some reports erroneously said the Trabants' bodies were made of cardboard; they were, in fact, made of Duroplast, a composite of plastic and cotton-waste fiberglass." Now, a German consortium wants to resurrect it, in electric form. They've brought a prototype to Frankfurt seeking investors.

It's far from the ugliest car in Frankfurt, however. That honor goes to the Peugeot BB1 concept. A tiny electric minicar, the BB1 somehow seats four people in about the same amount of space you'd find in a Smart Fortwo. It looks, however, utterly bizarre. Autoblog says it looks "something like a cartoon car that's straining to stop before smashing into a brick wall."

Jalopnik, on the other hand, calls it "a flying fetus." The car's performance, they report, "Is staggering, with a 0-19 MPH time of a crushing 2.8 seconds. Stand back."

Perhaps the worst idea at Frankfurt isn't a car, however, but an accessory. Edmunds Inside Line found it in an obscure corner of the show floor where aftermarket accessories rule. It's "a laptop platform for your steering wheel." Maybe Americans aren't the only ones who have an issue with distracted driving.

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.