By IOL Motoring Staff
Monterey, California - Standing out among the elegant Art Deco classics at this years Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, with its emphasis on the cars of the 1930s and '40s, is this brash little BMW, a throwback to the glitterball era of the 1970s.
But seriously, the BMW 2002 Hommage pays tribute to the first series-produced turbocharged car to be built in Europe, the fire-breathing little four that turned the BMW 02 into a full-on sports car.
This orange and black 'race rocket' is the next step up from the M-liveried 2002 Hommage Concept that was displayed the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Italy in May.
It sits low to the tar, with short overhangs and a classic 'shark nose' front treatment (Did you know that if you drive a 1970s BMW into a wall the bonnet will hit before the bumper does?) over a deep front splitter and rear spoiler, with period style ducting all over it.
But its signature styling cue has to be those radical wheel-arches, echoing the bolted-on extensions on the homologated version of the 2002 Turbo, which were needed to accommodate its severely widened track.
In the 2002 Hommage, these house 20 inch two-colour alloy rims with lots of machined surfaces (very period!) over gold-coloured M brake callipers.
Classic BMW sports coupé
Then there's the unbroken carbon-fiber “waterline” all the way round the body, pulling the design together and echoing many of the prominent team liveries of the day, while the 'turbo' legend in mirror writing on the deep front apron echoes the road cars.
Even the headlight reflectors have been finished with a pale gold tint to give their light the yellow tint so often seen on sports cars in the early 1970s. At the back, the blacked-out tail-light clusters form part of the 'waterline', so unless they're on, you can't even see where they are.
BMW doesn't say what the mechanical underpinnings of the show car came from; nevertheless, it's a fresh interpretation of a classic BMW sports coupé and, if it goes as fast as it looks, it'll be an absolute blast to drive.
Subscribe to our