Tradition as inspiration. The BMW Group’s Hommage vehicles come together for the first time at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2016.

Munich/Cernobbio. With BMW’s centenary headline “The
Next 100 Years” in mind, the BMW Group is bringing together, for the
first time, the full line-up of Hommage vehicles unveiled over recent
years. They will be joined on display at a special exhibition titled
“Hommage and Concept Vehicles” in the Padiglione Centrale at Villa
Erba by the models from the past that inspired them. The Hommage
vehicles bridge the company’s past with its future in the form of
exciting design studies. “With our Hommage vehicles we’re showing how
proud we are of our roots – and, at the same time, how significant our
history can be for our future,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice
President BMW Group Design. “The historical reference points for these
vehicles employed pioneering innovations, stand-out design and
extraordinary feats of engineering to cast a significant influence
over their times. The Hommage vehicles bring their unique character
into the present day – both technically and in terms of design.”

As well as the BMW 2002 Hommage and BMW Motorrad R 5 Hommage, the
following Hommage vehicles, along with their inspirations from
history, will share a stage for the first time at this year’s Concorso
d’Eleganza Villa d’Este:
 

BMW M1 Hommage (2008).

BMW Group Design presented the first in the line of Hommage vehicles
– the BMW M1 Hommage – at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2008 to
mark the 30th birthday of the BMW M1. Where the M1 was a super-sports
car brimming with passion and shorn of all compromise, the BMW Turbo
that went before it packaged innovative technical solutions into an
emotionally rich design. The BMW M1 Hommage embodies this combination
of technology and design, rationality and passion in an authentic,
modern-day interpretation of the mid-engined concept – complete, it
goes without saying, with twin BMW roundels above the rear lights on
the outer edges of the car’s tail.

BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage (2015).

For this car, the BMW Group Design team cast their minds back to the

BMW 3.0 CSL, a timelessly classical, iconic BMW coupe of the
1970s.
The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage bows before the engineering
accomplishments in lightweight construction and driving performance
wrapped up in the
BMW 3.0 CSL. The Hommage vehicle brings the
essence of the car into the present day through the use of intelligent
lightweight design and modern materials, and showcases it in a new and
pulse-quickening form. The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage subtly references many
of the characteristic features of its historical forebear, without
resorting to simple mimicry.

BMW Concept Ninety (2013).

In 2013 BMW celebrated the 90th birthday of BMW Motorrad, and with it

90 years in the motorcycle-making business. The BMW R 90 S also
provided a good reason to raise a glass in 2013, as the BMW Motorrad
design icon turned 40. It was in recognition of these two landmarks
that the BMW Group presented the BMW Concept Ninety at that year’s
Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Its eye-catching design and
exquisite custom and performance parts endow the
BMW Concept
Ninety with an exclusive and confident presence.

BMW 328 Hommage (2011).

The BMW 328 Hommage was unveiled to the global public for the first
time in 2011 to celebrate the 75th birthday of the legendary BMW 328
racing car. The study car wonders aloud what the designers might have
made of the BMW 328 in today’s world, with all the technical fineries
that would be at their disposal. The BMW 328 Hommage swaps aluminium
for carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) over large swathes of its
exterior and interior. CFRP offers the best balance between weight and
stability; it is lighter than aluminium and significantly stronger.
Fine leather, matt and high-gloss black polished aluminium and the
presence of all that CFRP enable the BMW 328 Hommage to paint a
picture of the original sports car’s unadulterated, pared-back
roadster character.


BMW Concept Coupé Milla Miglia (2006).

Back in 2006 – in the days before the term “Hommage vehicles” had
been coined – BMW sensed the flavour of times to come with the BMW
Concept Coupé Mille Miglia. A throwback to the victorious BMW 328
Mille Miglia Touring Coupé of 1940, it blended classical values with
the latest know-how and trailblazing creativity. As a symbol of the
sport of motor racing, the brand’s racing success and the spirit which
has carried engineers and drivers to ever greater heights of
accomplishment, decade upon decade, its modern exterior design – all
clear lines and asymmetric elements – creates a link between past
glories and future promise. Functional necessities governing the
arrangement of the engine, drive assemblies and passenger compartment
merge with the demands of aerodynamics to create an aesthetically
arresting whole.

MINI ACV 30 (1997).

At the Monte Carlo Rally in January 1997 a concept study of the Mini
Cooper was unveiled which offered a preview of the brand’s future
face. Far from an exercise in nostalgia rooted in retro design, the
MINI ACV 30 provided a modern interpretation of the vehicle concept
behind the classic Mini. The two-seater, right-hand-drive, mid-engined
ACV (Anniversary Concept Vehicle) turned heads with its wonderfully
powerful proportions. But it also offered a window into how the
hallmark design elements of the classic Mini – such as the hexagon
radiator grille and large circular headlights – could be carried over
into a 21st-century vehicle concept.