Okay, so BMW has taken a leaf out of Mazda’s
playbook and the Z4 concept it unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
was, in the words of Chief Designer Adrian van Hooydonk “stripped back to bare
essentials so that the driver enjoys a more pure driving experience”.
Thanks goodness for that.
I’m relieved someone
in the BMW management team recognizes that the roots of the company’s image are
inextricably linked to ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ – and not the nonsense trotted out by the
current Chairman, about how BMW wants be become ‘your electronic buddy’.
However, the REALLY BIG news from Monterey
is not the Z4 concept by itself. It was the news that the car forms the basis
of a joint venture between BMW and Toyota, and the Z4 will be just like the
Mazda MX-5 and the FIAT 124 Spyder JV – because the BMW concept will also
underpin a new Toyota Supra.
Hey, you’ve got to say there’s been a real
Viagra injection at Toyota HQ, with the 86/BRZ project and now the BMW-Toyota
JV – next thing we may see is Toyota linking with Bentley to produce a Toyota
version of the sexy Mulsanne!
Hey, sillier things have happened.
Personally I'd love to see a Bentley version of the Camry Hybrid. Dare to dream!
ReplyDeleteOops. Meant to say...Z4 "stripped back to bare essentials"...WTF? It has creases, bulges, inlets, outlets, duckbill thingys and everything else on the car designer's list of things I can use. Does one have to use them all? I was fortunate enough to sit down with the designer of the original Audi TT once and all he did was draw a very simple curved line across a napkin over the dinner. And there it was, the Audi TT. No bulges, no creases just a pure piece of brilliant design. So now, take a second look at this hotchpot of ideas, concepts and design indecision and tell me we should be excited. Personally I reckon Toyota will get the Supra right.
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