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NEWS
BMW 8 Series previewed
Penned by Pininfarina, the BMW Gran Lusso coupe concept offers twin-turbo V12 powerRumours of an even larger, even more luxurious super coupe from BMW have gathered momentum after the Bavarian premium maker unveiled teaser images of an upcoming concept car this week.
BMW has teamed with discarded Ferrari design house, Pininfarina, to create the twin-turbo, 6.0-litre V12-powered BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe.
Designed exclusively for next weekend’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Italy, the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe is the latest in a long line of such collaborations for the BMW design team and it showed a BMW Zagato Coupe at the same event last year.
Yet there have been strong rumours swirling around the top end of BMW’s range and sources have suggested the critical success of the four-door 6 Series GranTurismo (which is based on the 5-Series) could smooth the way for an 8 Series, based around 7 Series underpinnings.
Besides offering a less conservative option for the top end of its market, an 8 Series would also deliver a cost-effective way for BMW to smooth out the sales dip its flagship normally suffers after its third year. It could also feasibly be delivered in two- and four-door body styles, much like the 6 Series.
And equipping the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe with the V12 – which is only fitted in production to the 760i and 760iL – provides an even bigger hint, internal sources have suggested.
It’s an under-utilised engine in the lineup, with M ignoring it despite generating 400kW of power and 750Nm of torque and effortlessly hurling even the 5.2-metre 760iL to 100km/h in just 4.6 seconds.
On the record, though, BMW is calling the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe the sequel to a Zagato design idea of last year’s Ville d’Este and insists it’s a creative exchange of ideas that doesn’t hint at any concrete future production plans.
“It enables two design approaches to merge into a new and exciting initiative that encourages fresh design impulses,” a BMW spokesman said.
“The close collaboration with the Pininfarina design team has lead to a new automobile personality brimming with character and ready to join the high-end luxury class.”
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este has been held in the same place, on the banks of Italy’s Lake Como, since 1929.
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Written byMichael Taylor
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