Four things you (perhaps) didn't know about the BMW turbo
In 1972, BMW presented the "experimental vehicle" BMW turbo, a mid-engine sports car with gullwing doors in a rather eye-catching color scheme. It never went into series production, but even today this study is one of the most famous creations of the Munich-based company, which is certainly also due to the artistic hand of designer Paul Bracq. You probably knew all this.
Today, the BMW turbo is equipped with winter tires (M+S), so it would be ready for a drive in the snow. The tires are 265 mm wide (rear), a rather unusual dimension for those times. Even the modern BMW i8, whose production has just ended, had narrower wheels, even with the optional tires.
For a technology study, the BMW turbo is pretty well built down to the last detail; there are even ashtrays on the left and right for smokers.
The driver can enjoy a rather futuristic cockpit for the time, which was also forward-looking with the center console tilted towards the driver. A display for lateral acceleration is installed directly below the speedometer (!).
Two vehicles were built, the second of which had additional rear wheel covers, so-called "spats", for aerodynamic reasons. These are removable and the first prototype was also retrofitted with them. They can certainly be seen as a reminiscence of the BMW 328, as this pre-war sports car was also partially delivered with spats.
With all these remarks, we just want to point out that we are preparing a rather interesting story for the annual magazine to be published in December, which is about the BMW turbo, but not only about it ...
