This is the BMW Concept Touring Coupe, the car with atypical shapes, created to remind us of the spirit of freedom on four wheels
May. 20th, 2023, 12:44 PM GMT Ilie Toma
BMW has had bodies that took bizarre several times in its history, with a bit diffuse shapes, so that you could no longer understand whether it was a hatchback, a station wagon, a coupe or something else. Now, BMW has revealed another such bizarre creation, which some might say is a station wagon with the rear doors cut off and the rear glued on, but many more will say it's yet another stroke of design freedom. A car, when you are not obliged to create a car of a certain segment, but an eccentric one, without limits. And that's what this design wants to remind us - what the timeless spirit of freedom means in creating a car, but also in driving it.
The car has now been unveiled at the renowned Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este on Italy's Lake Como. And that's because the Concept Touring Coupe takes its inspiration from the BMW 328 Touring Coupe, which won the 1940 Mille Miglia race.
BMW 328 Touring Coupe, at 1940 Mille Miglia
The new creation frames its bizarre forms rather in a two-door shooting brake. All the lines and shapes are a play of lights and concave and convex shapes, all to finally create a car that tells you it's fun to drive, without telling you anything directly, without even starting its engine or to open its doors.
The interior continues the same philosophy, deviating a bit from current BMW shapes. Even the screens, although present, have been hidden in the dashboard protrusions to detract from the emphasis of their presence.
And the freedom to drive, in the case of this car, came with a classic, in-line 6-cylinder engine that has petrol. No mention of any electric propulsion system here, not even a hybrid. The word "timeless" is the one used by BMW to describe this car. And that means that engineering was also needed that could be just as tasty 30 years later, and 40 years later, as a collector's car.
It is a pity, however, that we are talking about a car produced in a single copy, without any intention of a series production. Something tells us that if BMW had produced at least 500 cars, even at the exorbitant price, there would have been collectors who would have bought it.