Along-disappeared Marcello Gandini concept car has been recreated by BMW. The BMW Garmisch, designed by Gandini for Bertone in 1970, vanished after its debut at the Geneva Motor Show. It’s been recreated using a tiny selection of period photos and some memories.
Marcello Gandini recalls: “The original idea came from Nuccio Bertone himself, who wanted to consolidate our existing relationship with BMW by designing a surprise show car for the Geneva Motor Show. We wanted to create a modern mid-sized coupe that was faithful to BMW’s design language, but that was also more dynamic and even a bit provocative.”
Gandini assisted with memories such as the exterior colour (light champagne metallic). The 2019 Garmisch has been coachbuilt in Turin, just like the original car almost 50 years ago.
The most distinctive design feature is the boldly angular variation of BMW’s kidney-shaped radiator grille, flanked by glass- covered headlights. Other unusual details include louvres on the C-pillars and honeycomb mesh over the rear window.
Inside, there’s a unique vertical radio on the centre console.
Presented at the recent Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, its design was hailed by Adrian van Hooydonk of BMW Group Design: “Marcello Gandini to me is one of the grandmasters of car design and his cars always have been an important source of inspiration for my work. Building the BMW Garmisch gave us the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Gandini, recall one of his lesser-known cars and highlight Bertone’s stylistic influence on the evolution of BMW design.”
