The German-Italian relationship at BMW
10/02/2020
Some were surprised when BMW took over the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este about a decade ago. Yet Italy is almost in the genes of the Munich-based manufacturer. Pinin Farina, for example, designed a prototype for the BMW 501/502 as early as 1950, although it never went into production.
But even before Pinin Farina, BMW had teamed up with Italian partners, for example in the construction of the streamlined 328 racing car with Carrozzeria Touring.
The rescue of BMW in the fifties was also thanks to the Italians, as they had laid the foundation for the BMW Isetta with the Iso Isetta.
And the BMW 700, the second lifeline a few years later, was also designed by an Italian, Giovanni Michelotti.
In this respect, the BMW 3200 CS "Bertone" was no longer a surprise.
However, Bertone also delivered several other designs such as the Spicup or the Garmisch (color-modified image above). Gandini's designs were also used for series models such as the E12 series.
BMW prototypes were also produced by Pietro Frua at the end of the sixties.
And then, finished? No, not at all. The 1972 BMW Turbo (the gullwing sports car built twice) was created by Giovanni Michelotti in Italy. Although the BMW designers provided the specifications, they left the fine-tuning to the Italians.
And for the M1, BMW initially counted on the collaboration with Lamborghini for the construction of the mid-engine sports car, after the design came from Giugiaro, another Italian.
And that is probably only a small part of the story between BMW and the Italians ...
P.S. By the way, there are vehicle reports on zwischengas for almost all the cars mentioned, the BMW topic page shows them all ...
