BMW M1 Homage Concept

To mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1 super sports car, BMW Group Design is presenting a homage to this legendary model as part of the Concorso d`Eleganza Villa d`Este 2008. The BMW M1 designed by Giorgio Giugiaro was a car of superlatives and a highly emotive vehicle that was uncompromisingly primed for the race track.

Spawning this development was the BMW Turbo by Paul Bracq, a revolutionary concept car which, in addition to its groundbreaking functional design, also boasted a raft of technical innovations. It is from these two unique vehicles that the BMW M1 Homage takes its cue - a design study that pays tribute to its forerunner models and an embodiment of the competence, creativity and potential of the BMW Group Design team.

The BMW M1 Homage is a design study in the tradition of a BMW Turbo that represents a contemporary take on the BMW M1 and the mid-engine concept. This tribute exhibits an emotional design that showcases technology and integrates it into the overall aesthetics of the vehicle.

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BMW CS Concept

BMW has taken the wraps off the CS Concept — a new "four-door-coupe" designed to tackle the Mercedes CLS, Porsche Panamera, and Maserati Quattroporte. The car is likely a preview of the recently rumored 8-Series revival, or alternatively a four-door 6-Series. Either way, it points to BMW's future design direction for the company as a whole.

The debut of the CS Concept follows a report by German car magazine Auto Zeitung that claimed BMW would launch a four-door coupe using the 8-Series designation, starting with a new 850i.

In June 2006, Germany's Auto Bild ran a cover story on BMW's planned rival to the Mercedes CLS. The magazine claimed the vehicle was the next-generation 6-series, which it says will be offered in two- and four-door variants under the same nameplate.

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BMW 507

The BMW 507 was a roadster produced by BMW from 1956 to 1959. It is thought by many to be one of the most beautiful automobiles ever produced.

The BMW 507 was the brainchild of BMW importer Max Hoffman, who in 1954 persuaded the BMW management to produce a roadster version of the BMW 502 that could compete with Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz sports cars. The 507 made its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 1955. Production began in November 1956. Intended to revive BMW's sporting image, the 507 instead took BMW to the edge of bankruptcy -- the company's losses for 1959 were DM 15 million. The company lost money on each 507 built, and production was terminated early in 1959. Only 252 were built, plus two prototypes.

It is believed 80% of 507s still survive, a tribute to the car's appeal, and good-condition or fully restored models fetch between $275,000-$300,000 at auction. The styling of the 507 later influenced the BMW Z8 and BMW Z3.

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BMW VAD.HO

Sighted at Geneva: a sporty, sleek yet unconventional car that looks like a supercar and is powered by a hybrid V12 engine. The name of Giugiaro’s VAD.HO concept is a clever play on words. It’s a combination of Giugiaro’s hometown since 1974, the Vado industrial area in Moncalieri, and it is also meant to sound like vado, or “I go” in Italian, with the H slotted in to symbolize hydrogen.

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BMW NazcaC2

The BMW Nazca C2 or Italdesign Nazca C2, was 1992 a concept sports car which premiered at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show. The car was designed by famed automotive engineering company Italdesign, home of Giorgetto Giugiaro, and features a similar frontal design of a BMW.

Only two cars were built, they were equipped with the 5.0 L V 12 engine from BMW, that was producing 350bhp.

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BMW 328

The BMW 328 was a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, designed by Fritz Fiedler. It featured many advanced features for its time such as a tubular space frame and a hemispherical combustion chamber engine. It was much praised at the time for its performance and handling.

The car won many races including the prestigious Mille Miglia — a class win in 1938 and the outright winner (with a streamlined body) in 1940. It also won the RAC Rally in 1939 and came in fifth overall (first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans 24 hours.

It is widely acknowledged that the BMW 328 was a strong influence on the Jaguar XK120 of 1948.

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BMW M6

The new BMW M6 made its debut at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It is based on the BMW E63/E64 6-Series, introduced in 2004. It shares the same 5.0 L V10 S85 engine with the M5, and produces 507 hp. The top speed can reach 330 km/h (206 mph) and multiple road tests have shown that the M6 accelerates from 0 to 60 in 4.1 seconds.

It can be visually distinguished from the 630i, 645Ci and 650i by its deeper front valance with air intakes, more contoured side sills and a rear valance with diffuser as well as four tail pipes.

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BMW M5 (E60)

The BMW M5 is the high-performance version of the BMW 5-Series automobile made by BMW M GmbH. M5 versions of the E28, E34, E39 and E60 5-Series have been made.

The first M5, based on the E28 5-Series, made its debut at the 1984 Amsterdam Motor Show. It was the product of demand for an automobile with the carrying capacity of a saloon (sedan), but the overall performance of a sports car.

The E60 M5 was introduced in 2006. It has a naturally aspirated 5.0 L BMW V10 S85 engine redlining at 8250 RPM and developing a peak output of 500 SAE hp.

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Mini Cooper

The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 to 2000. The most popular British-made car, it has since been replaced by the New MINI which was launched in 2001.

The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers. In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Mini came second only to the Ford Model T.

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BMW Z4

The BMW Z4 is a rear-wheel drive sports car by the German automaker BMW, known as the E85 in roadster form and E86 in coupe form. Production started in 2002, and thus replaced the BMW Z3. The design addresses many criticisms of the Z3; the Z4 is larger, more powerful, and has a significantly stiffer chassis. It is built in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Initially, the Z4 was available only as a roadster, but in 2006 a coupé version was officially launched.

The Z4 was designed by Chris Bangle and began the controversy over his "flame surfacing" design and aggressive styling choices, which can also be seen on most modern BMW cars, most noticeably the 7 Series and 5 Series. As of 2006, the entire BMW car line, including the BMW 3 Series, had incorporated Chris Bangle's design theme.

The Z4 features a strut type front suspension like its precessor, the Z3. The rear suspension, however is considerably different from that of the Z3, which was based on that of the E30 BMW 3 Series. Instead of a semi-trailing arm suspension, the Z4 uses a more advanced multi-link suspension.

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BMW Concept Coupé Mille Miglia 2006

The history of the Mille Miglia and the history of the BMW brand have been inseparably connected for decades. The roots of this relationship were formed during the classical road races between 1927 and 1957 and the tradition is still alive today in the annual races for historic vehicles.

With the Mille Miglia 2006, the BMW Group Mobile Tradition, the Munich automobile manufacturer’s division for classics is also using a series of vehicles that set new standards in the art of engineering in their time and that are now considered milestones in the history of the development of automotive engineering. Furthermore, at the start and finish line in Brescia in northern Italy, BMW is presenting a unique specimen fabricated on the occasion of the Mille Miglia 2006, in which the enthusiasm for racing sports from days past is being united with the technical opportunities of today, along with pioneering design perspectives.

The BMW Concept Coupé Mille Miglia 2006 pays homage to the skills, successes and the visions of the motor sports pioneers of the past, created by its modern successors. On the surface, the BMW Concept Coupé unmistakably bears the traits of a racing sports icon. Its bodywork design is oriented on the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé, that legendary two-seater with which Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer drove home the victory during the Mille Miglia in 1940. Their speed record - average speed: 166.7 km/h - has remained until today. No other Mille Miglia victor - neither before nor since - ever travelled as fast as the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Coupé with its touring body, which was driven by the legendary “racing baron”.

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BMW Art Car Collection

An art car is a vehicle that has its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression. Most car artists are ordinary people with no artistic training. They are largely self taught and self funded, though some mainstream trained artists have also worked in the art car medium. Some consider their art to be created as a source of income or as "professional" artworks. Most others agree that creating and driving an Art Car daily is its own reward.

Well known artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol etc. have designed BMW Art Cars and their work has been reflected in racing cars like the BMW V12 LMR.

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BMW M1

The BMW M1 is a supercar produced by the German automaker BMW from 1978 to 1981. It was the first and only mid-engined BMW. It employed a twin-cam M88/1 3.5 L 6-cylinder gasoline engine, a version of which was later used in the E24 BMW M6/M635CSi and E28 BMW M5. The engine had six separate throttle butterflies, four valves per cylinder and produced 277 PS (204 kW) in the street version, giving a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph). Turbocharged racing versions were capable of producing around 850 hp.

The M1 coupe was hand-built between 1978 and 1981 under the Motorsport division of BMW as a homologation special for sports car racing. The body was designed by Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo show car. Originally, BMW commissioned Lamborghini to work out the details of the car's chassis, assemble prototypes and manufacture the vehicles, but Lamborghini's financial position meant that BMW reassumed control over the project in April 1978, after seven prototypes were built. Only 456 production M1s were built, making it one of BMW's rarest models.

Though the car never saw a great deal of racing success, the M1 is remembered as a refined and civilized supercar in the true BMW tradition, with great handling and stellar build quality. In 2004, Sports Car International named the car number ten on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s.

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BMW Serie 3 Coupe (E92)

The BMW E90 automobile platform is the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of entry-level luxury/compact executive cars. The car is also available as a station wagon/estate (designated as E91), coupé (E92) and coupé cabriolet (E93). It is the successor to the E46 platform, and was launched in March 2005.

The E92 is the coupé version of the current BMW E90. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via a six speed manual gearbox or an automatic transmission.

The M3 will feature four exhausts pipes, large air intakes, and front wing vents.

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