Was the BMW Concept Touring Coupe Actually an ALPINA in Disguise?

Three years after its unveiling at the prestigious Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza, the stunning BMW Concept Touring Coupe continues to spark conversation among enthusiasts. The Z4-based shooting brake was met with near-universal acclaim, came tantalizingly close to production, and left many wondering: why did it never make it to showrooms?

But there’s another question that keen-eyed BMW enthusiasts have asked since day one: why did this BMW concept wear so many ALPINA-like details? The answer may be more intriguing than anyone suspected.

From Z4 to Coupe: A Persistent Dream

The story begins with designer Calvin Luk, the talented stylist who originally worked on the Z4 and has since moved to Hyundai’s U.S. operations. The idea of a Z4 Coupe had never fully disappeared within BMW’s design halls – an earlier Designworks proposal by Erik Goplen had already explored that territory.

Following the success of the limited-production 3.0 CSL, BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk was keen to demonstrate that such special-series projects could become a regular part of BMW’s portfolio. As they did later with the Skytop and Speedtop. Luk was tapped to develop the concept.

The ALPINA Details That Sparked Questions

What emerged at Villa d’Este was undeniably striking, but it was the details that told a curious story. The concept featured distinctive multi-spoke wheels that bore an uncanny resemblance to ALPINA’s signature design language. Inside, the seat trim displayed stitching patterns and leather quality that seemed lifted straight from Buchloe’s playbook.

So of course, the question was: were these ALPINA-inspired touches or genuine ALPINA components, commissioned for this specific car. And that raises another question: was this concept originally intended to wear the Buchloe badge?

A Last-Minute Identity Change?

Since BMW planned this car to be sold in a limited run at around $250,000, the marketing angle had to be right. Why you might ask? Becase ALPINA simply doesn’t have meaningful coupe heritage. For decades, ALPINA has built its reputation on luxury-performance sedans and estates. The B3, B5, B7, D3 – these are the cars that define the marque. A two-door sporting coupe, however beautiful, might have not aligned at the time with ALPINA’s DNA in the way that, say, a high-performance touring car would.

For a BMW concept to carry so many genuine ALPINA touches, there must have been a reason. Whether that reason was an abandoned branding strategy or simply an even deeper collaboration between Munich and Buchloe, we may never know with complete certainty. For now, that secret still stays well guarded within the BMW design team, but what’s certain though are the unmistakable fingerprints of its possible ALPINA origins.

The complete development of the BMW Concept Touring Coupe story is documented in Steve Saxty’s comprehensive “BMW by Design” book set.

What Could Have Been

Would an ALPINA Z4 Touring have made commercial sense? Perhaps not in the traditional ALPINA mold. But as we’ve seen with BMW’s recent limited-series projects, the rules are different for low-volume, high-desirability cars. The 3.0 CSL proved that as well. The Touring Concept proved it again with its overwhelmingly positive reception.

In the end, we got a glimpse of a beautiful shooting brake that nearly made production. But the lingering details suggest we might have come close to something even more intriguing: ALPINA’s first-ever coupe  in the modern era. So it remains to be seen whether BMW will one day give its own ALPINA brand a beautiful and highly desirable coupe.