Underneath, Still BMW
Following BMW’s acquisition of Alpina, the Bovensiepen family, led by the sons of the late founder Burkard, continues to build exceptional cars. This Bovensiepen Zagato gives us a glimpse into that future. This Zagato-designed coupé based on a BMW M4 is further removed from a BMW than anything we’ve seen from the Alpina brand before.
The Bovensiepen family retains the factory in Buchloe, including its 300 employees and all know-how. It was already known that the brand would focus on classics. Maintaining all the Alpina models made since the late 1960s is a key task for the company in the German Allgäu, just north of the Alps.
Zagato at Villa d’Este
Underneath that central mountain range, the Bovensiepen Zagato was unveiled today. The Villa d’Esta event near Lake Como is a BMW celebration every year. Each year brings a special concept car, such as this year’s Concept Speedtop. They also unveiled the new BMW M2 CS today. But this Bovensiepen Zagato is naturally the icing on the cake. A typical Zagato styling element is the double-bubble roof.
M4
Underneath the car is a BMW M4, but it has of course been tweaked in true Alpina fashion. The 6-in-line engine squeezes out more than 600 hp, and the 0-100 sprint should be possible in 3.3 seconds. The top speed is 300 km/h. According to the Bovensiepens, the production of one unit takes 250 hours. So it will be a truly exorbitant price tag. The advantage is that, given Alpina’s more than half a century of experience, you know that the refinement and handling will be excellent. It will just take some getting used to driving a product with BMW technology from Buchloe that is very striking and clearly looks different from a BMW.