Each year BMW shows a concept car out of competition at the prestigious Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in northern Italy. In 2010 the Blue Propeller company will commemorate the 70th anniversary of its 1940 Mille Miglia win by showcasing its 328 Mille Miglia Concept Coupé.
But that won't be BMW's only link with the iconic road race; the company's Classic division has brought back to life a car last seen nearly 60 years ago: the 328 Kamm Coupé.
This racing car - a superb meld of form and function - shows how far the development of aerodynamics and light construction had progressed at BMW by the late 1930's.
BMW Classic director Karl Baumer said: "Our tribute to the M1 at the 2008 Concorso showed how much inspiration the past can provide for the future - and the Kamm Coupé shows how far back the future at BMW stretches into the past."
After their landmark victory in 1940 the BMW Mille Miglia cars were spirited out of Munich into the countryside to prevent them from being destroyed in the Second World War. All five survived but were dispersed around the world in the turmoil of the immediate post-war period.
Only the Kamm Coupé remained in Germany as the personal transport of former BMW racing director Ernst Loof, who later became an automaker in his own right, building hot little Veritas racing sports cars.
However, financial difficulties forced him to sell the Kamm Coupé and in the early 1950's it was scrapped after an accident.
It was rescued from the scrapheap in the mid-1990's and now, after more than a decade of research and reconstruction using documents from the BMW archives and private collectors, computer calculations by the BMW development department and skilled input from body experts and engine specialists, it's been restored to its original glory.
For Baumer this has been an incredible project.
He said: "We've come up against some major technical challenges, had many discussions and racked up countless hours of research, but when you see the car for the first time you can sense the passion and professionalism invested by all those involved - all those years ago and today."
The 328 Kamm Coupé will be the star of the BMW exhibit at the 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este from April 23-25, accompanied by a line-up of the classic cars that the company will enter in the 2010 Mille Miglia 10 days later.