BMW’s Garmisch Concept Is A Modern-Day Recreation Of The Missing Original

BMW has used the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este to introduce stylish concepts such as the Z4 Zagato Coupe, but this year is different as they’ve unveiled a modern-day recreation of the Garmisch concept.

Created by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini, the original Garmisch concept was based on the BMW 2002 tii and unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show. However, it vanished following its debut.

Since the fate of the original remains a mystery, BMW had a difficult task when it came to recreating the model. This wasn’t helped by the fact that few original documents related to the Garmisch still exist.

In order to overcome these difficulties, the automaker created a special team which consisted of members from BMW Classic and BMW Group Design. They poured over a “small selection of period images,” which were mostly black and white, and then began transferring styling elements from the original Garmisch to the recreation. Gandini also helped the team as he provided additional information about the car which could have otherwise been lost to history.

The resulting recreation is pretty faithful to the original and Gandini said “Having seen the final car, it is hard for me to even distinguish it from the original.” That’s high praise from a designer, especially one who oversaw projects such as the Alfa Romeo Carabo, Lancia Stratos Zero and Lamborghini Miura during his 14 year tenure as Bertone’s design director.

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While the Garmisch isn’t exactly beautiful, it’s a sleek two-door coupe which features a controversial interpretation of BMW’s iconic twin-kidney grille. The concept also has glass-covered headlights, C-pillar louvers and a honeycomb mesh cover on the rear window.

The unique styling continues in the cabin as the concept has a stylish steering wheel and a slim center stack with vertical controls. Other notable highlights include wood trim, metal accents and a glovebox which opens to reveal a large mirror.

Following its debut at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the Garmisch recreation will become part of the collection at the BMW Museum in Munich, Germany.