In 1991, the BMW Nazca C2 Coupe concept was presented as a potential M1 successor. Not long after, a Spider version was displayed at the 1993 Monaco Grand Prix. Both were styled by Italdesign while Giorgetto Giugiaro was at the company, but the design was actually based on the Bugatti ID 90 concept revealed in 1990. Further design inspiration came from the Nazca M12, which was the first car penned by Giorgetto’s son, Fabrizio. Despite its drop-dead gorgeous looks, BMW was scared off by the relative failure of the original M1, which after the whole Lamborghini fiasco, was wildly expensive and somewhat late to the party. Fortunately, three Coupes were made for private customers.
In 2003, the BMW 5 Series arrived in E60 sedan and E61 wagon forms. The lead designer was Austrian Boyke Boyer, but the final design, supervised by Chris Bangle, was developed by Italian Davide Arcangeli.
In 2012, we saw the BMW Zagato Coupe and Roadster (the latter of which took just six weeks to progress from design idea to finished one-off), while 2013 saw the arrival of the Pininfarina-designed Gran Lusso Coupe.
If this list is anything to go by, Italian style with German precision is always a winning recipe.
