► First production Alpina under BMW ownership due in 2027
► Coupe concept combines comfort and performance
► Target is the gap in the market between 7-series and Rolls-Royce
No, not Alpine, the Renault performance brand that’s in the process of pivoting away from the lightweight A110 coupe to an all-electric range. We’re talking about Alpina, which was formed 61 years ago as a specialist engineering company, then became a maker of BMW-based exotica.
The cars – mostly saloons, but also some coupes and more recently SUVs – were generally brilliant combinations of luxury, performance and some quirky details. They built up a global network of admirers and collectors. But, unusually for a car with cult appeal, they could all be used as daily drivers.
Alpina is now under full BMW ownership, and has just revealed a concept to get the world ready for its first production car, due in 2027.
So what’s the plan?
BMW says Alpina will retain its distinctiveness, and will still be mechanically based on regular BMWs. The cars will be built at specially equipped areas in some BMW factories, and sold through Alpina-branded zones within some BMW dealerships.
In a move copied from Rolls-Royce, those retailers will have paint and leather samples available for potential buyers to compare and contrast; personalisation will be a big part of the buying experience, at least when it comes to cosmetics and luxuries, if not the engineering.
Alpina is, according to new boss Oliver Viellechner, defined by comfort and speed; it’s not sporty. That’s a distinction Alpina founder Burkard Bovensiepen didn’t make. He loved racing, and made sure his endurance race cars were comfortable, to help the drivers stay at the wheel longer.
Max Missoni, the former Polestar designer whose BMW duties include responsibility for the look of the new Alpinas, recalls: ‘There was a lot of internal debate: how much of the history is sacred, and how much can we afford to innovate? We studied Burkard Bovensiepen quite deeply.’
A key factor in Alpina’s success was the trust between customers and Alpina, and between BMW and Alpina, Missoni says. He also notes that Bovensiepen had strong instincts that gave his cars their unpredictable brilliance: ‘He made sometimes quite charmingly random decisions.’
What’s the car we’re looking at here?
It’s a concept – Vision BMW Alpina, a two-door coupe. One of the key inspirations behind the new concept was the B7 Turbo of the late 1970s. Based on the 6-series, it had an aggressive-looking front end. ‘We were quite inspired by the combination of comfort and performance,’ says Missoni.
The Vision BMW Alpina is, very roughly, a 7-series coupe. It’s 5.2 metres long, with two doors, 2+2 seating, a big glass roof and a visually challenging nose and tail. It has a V8 engine and four tailpipes, but beyond that no technical information is being shared.
The point of the concept is to announce BMW Alpina to the world, and to preview many of the details that will be used in production cars. Those details include 20-spoke wheels (22-inch front, 23-inch rear), the ALPINA logo under the grille at the front; at the rear it’s below the BMW logo on the bootlid. The logo itself is a simplified version of the ever-evolving lettering used by Alpina when it was independent and based at Buchloe, an hour’s drive west of Munich.
Inside, it’s a combination of leathery plushness and infotainment based on BMW’s latest Panoramic iDrive.
The two rear seats are luxurious, but not blessed with much leg room. There’s a glass roof, and the door surrounds are leather-trimmed.
The ‘Deco-set’ coachline used since the ’70s on Alpinas has been simplified to the point where it’s hard to spot. It’s paint, whereas on Alpinas it used to be stickers, and there’s an option of having it removed completely.
More visually arresting is the simplicity of the body sides, with a crease rising from front to rear to give a poised, athletic look.
What will be carried over from the Vision is not the body style but many of the details and the general position: luxurious and potent. Ex-Rolls-Royce design ace Alex Innes is among those who have been recruited to sprinkle some high-end magic on the new cars.
Viellechner insists: ‘Everything you touch or smell must be perfect.’ The quality of the materials and the execution of the build must be exemplary. ‘In an Alpina you must not make a single mistake: a small patch of cheap plastic will ruin the car.’
What’s coming next?
The first production car of the new era will be based on the 7-series, to help distinguish BMW Alpina from BMW’s M performance division, which is more focused on the smaller cars and the SUVs. It’s possible that smaller Alpinas could follow.
The plan is for BMW Alpina to be ‘powertrain neutral’ in line with the rest of the BMW Group. That suggests full electric Alpinas will arrive at some point, but combustion engines will also be available so long as legislation allows and the demand persists.
There’s no detail yet on production volumes, but expect something between Alpina’s recent 2000-2500 a year and Rolls-Royce’s 5000 or so. Price wise, Alpina is eyeing the gap between the most expensive 7-series and the least expensive Rolls – putting it firmly in Bentley territory.
Viellechner says: ‘There are some very attractive top-end offerings out there, wonderful cars – Range Rover, Maybach, Bentley. With the understated character of Alpina, we fit into that.’ Globally, the market for cars in that bracket is growing, and BMW doesn’t want to sit idly by and watch others do well.
