BMW'S NEW CONCEPT CAR
RECENTLY, BMW unveiled the brand new Concept Coupe Mille Miglia 2006. Here is another concept car that will tweak auto lovers' tongues by the roots and leave them slavering.
With hints of today's BMW Z4 Coupe and one of BMW's most famous racing cars, the BMW 328, the BMW Concept Coupe Mille Miglia 2006 took pride of place in Brescia, Italy on May 10 as this year's entrants were scrutinised ahead of the event.
The Mille Miglia was resurrected in 1977 as an annual rally to celebrate one of the world's great motor races.
Today, the concept coupe will never win a race but the two-seater is still a symbol for motor sports, racing success and the brand and spirit that have moved the engineers and drivers to perennially great achievements for decades.
The two-seater was given a lightweight chassis manufactured in the Milanese bodywork forgery Touring on a lattice frame. The power delivered by its 2.0-litre six-cylinder in-line engine was increased from
originally 80 to 136 PS.
The characteristic basic design is being interpreted in a modern manner. While optimising the aerodynamics, the body designers now especially concentrate on the
side and rear sections of the vehicle. The goal is to conduct the airflow in perfect harmony and turbulence-free up to the tail. Five each optically impressive air intakes near the A-pillars also control the flow movements in the front end.
The entire trim over the rear wheels and the extremely gently coasting tail are additional design elements based on both the traditional and the latest aerodynamic findings.
The 20-inch alloy wheels, specifically developed for the BMW Concept Coupé, fit into the image of its powerful proportions. Tyres dimensioned 245/40 R 20 are mounted on them. Instead of doors, the study bears permanently integrated sidewalls, contributing to weight reduction on the one hand and to increasing torsional stiffness on the other. To let the pilot access the interior, the entire cockpit swings up.
The entire body of the concept vehicle is made out of a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). The shell is painted fine silver, a full-gloss paint colour with extremely fine pigments. In this way, the finish awakens the memory of traditional colourings, but when inspected more closely it is clearly the result of the most modern surface-aesthetics engineering.
The BMW Concept Coupé surmounts the BMW Z4 M Coupé by 23 centimetres length. More than 70 years of the history of the development of the six-cylinder in-line engine are reflected in the Concept Coupé a slice of history where the opening chapter is just as fascinating as the certainly only temporary ending.
Sources: www.autointell.com and www.autoblog.com
