There have been countless awesome BMW concepts over the years that never made production. Some are well known, like the BMW 328 Concept and the M1 Hommage (though, that concept arguably birthed the BMW i8’s design). Some, however, aren’t so well known, such as the Bertone BMW 2800 Spicup.

Designed in 1969, the Bertone BMW 2800 Spicup was an oddball of a car. It was obviously the work of Bertone, the famous Italian design house, and it was a radical design that was wildly different than anything BMW had made at the time. Despite the name, the Spicup 2800 was actually based on the BMW E3 2500 sedan. Then Bertone cut the wheelbase down and gave it that wild body.

That crazy looking roof is actually a sliding targa top, which is actually a where the car gets its name. Sort of. The strange sounding name “Spicup” is actually a mashup of the word “Spider” and “Coupe”. While it’s certainly crazy looking, it wasn’t the prettiest of cars. And that color scheme? Green over green? The sixties were weird. But how do you not love a car with a sliding metal targa top?

In this new rendering, we get to see what one would look like if it were made today. Though, if we’re honest, it sort of just looks like the old Spicup with smoother lines and a bit of an i8 face. That’s no bad thing, though, as the Bertone-designed car was quite good looking at most angles. Though, it was just strange from others.

We wish BMW would develop more oddball concepts like the original 2800 Spicup. They’re fun and interesting in ways that modern concept cars usually aren’t. This render reminds us that the original Bertone version was unique and interesting  and we wish there were more concept cars like it.

[Source: Chipex]