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BMW Garmisch, Bertone concept from 1970

The BMW Garmisch was a design proposal presented at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show by the Bertone Design Centre, aimed at updating the look of the BMW range at the time, which was very performance and powertrain oriented and less about exterior design.

The car was presented as a two-door sedan based on the BMW 2200 TI, and its sober and elegant styling was intended to change the “Germanic” BMW style for a more “Italian” one, in line with the trends of the time. The Bertone Group, from which the prototype originated, is an Italian company founded by Giovanni Bertone in 1912, specialising in the creation and design of bodywork for a wide range of marques, including Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Opel, Volvo, and Lamborghini. He has also designed motorbikes for Lambretta.

If the exterior was daring, the futuristic interior was even more striking, with a very particular arrangement of the elements, featuring a gigantic glovebox with access by rails instead of hinges.

The concept, named after the Bavarian town of Garmisch, famous for its skiing and other mountain sports, did not have the impact that Bertone had hoped for, and BMW did not consider taking it into production.

Bertone had successfully designed other models for BMW, such as the BMW 3200 CS, but this time he did not succeed with his proposal, although it served as the basis for the development of the first 5 Series, the E-12.

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