BMW’s Answer to Economic Downturn, an ICE Shooting Brake
Launching an ultra-luxurious ‘Shooting Brake’ concept in the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis and on the cusp of economic slowdown might seem odd except BMW knows the wealthy will feel the effects of neither.
So, it’s BMW Concept Touring Coupé debuts at the opening of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2023 trusting to traditional six-cylinder ICE powerplants as a car focused on “driving pleasure” and on which the automaker has built its reputation. It’s a hard-top two-seater sportster dripping with bespoke hard-crafted features no doubt drawing from its expertise garnered as the owners of the British iconic brand, Rolls-Royce.
Following in the wheel tracks of previous shooting brakes across the decades from the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Bentley, BMW Design says it has “reimagined” the traditional body shape of an elegant sports car. In the interior, crafted leather surfaces from Italian manufacturer Poltrona Frau create a luxurious ambience. The compartment behind the seats provides ample room to stow luggage, sporting guns, fishing tackle and golf clubs for spontaneous must-do trips, while the luggage itself was also exclusively custom-made at the Schedoni leather workshop in Modena.
To accentuate the car’s flowing lines, there’s sparkling ‘Lario’ exterior paintwork with embedded flakes of blue glass, its grey-brown tones achieve claim to lend an impression of depth. The effect is completed by silver-bronze accents and the specially designed trademark kidney grille with longitudinal bars. Exclusive light-alloy wheels, measuring 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear axle, provide a continuation of these color accents in the 20-spoke radial design.
Domagoj Dukec, head of BMW Design, said: “The BMW Concept Touring Coupé celebrates the original Sheer Driving Pleasure. A highly emotional vehicle like this shows that the passion for everything that goes into driving pleasure has been essential through the ages and will be for the future.”
— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_
