Rapid design development at BMW
09/19/2020
BMW design changed rapidly over a period of around ten years from the end of the 1950s. A number of factors were involved, including the way the engine was installed, but above all the people involved and the target groups aimed at.
The BMW 3200 CS and the BMW 2000 CS ( pictured above) are only four years apart if you take their first presentation (at the IAA, 1961 and 1965 respectively) as a yardstick. In fact, the BMW 3200 CS was ready a little earlier, but could not be presented earlier due to the financial risks and then appeared at the same time as the "Neue Klasse" in Frankfurt. Giugiaro designed it for Bertone and gave it a classic GT silhouette.
At the same time as the " New Class " (i.e. BMW 1500), the BMW 501/502, now labeled as the 3200 S and continuously further developed, was also built with its baroque design until 1964.
And the BMW 700 could also be bought in parallel (until 1965), visually as a Michelotti design with a clearly different design language.
Even at the beginning of the sixties, the BMW 3200 CS had something old-fashioned about it. Perhaps it was even too classic. But we will philosophize more about this in a planned article on this car.
P.S. Of course, the BMW Turbo prototype, which was presented in 1972 and paid little heed to any traditions, provided an even greater innovative boost in terms of design. But that's another story and will be told another time ...
