{"id":84775,"date":"2026-02-02T08:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84775"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:35:26","slug":"bmw-7-series-e23-prototype-camouflage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84775","title":{"rendered":"BMW Looks Back At 7 Series E23 Prototypes With Funky Camo"},"content":{"rendered":"

For automakers and businesses in general, social media channels are an effective way to promote products. However, marketing efforts aren\u2019t entirely focused on what you can buy today. When you\u2019re BMW and have a long heritage worth honoring, it pays to look into the rearview mirror every now and then.<\/p>\n

That brings us to an interesting post shared by BMW Classic on Instagram<\/em>. While it may look like some sort of American wagon, it\u2019s all Bavarian underneath the strange camouflage. In the early 1970s, 7 Series prototypes were running around the streets that you would\u2019ve been hard-pressed to identify as a BMW.<\/p>\n

Even knowing what hides in plain sight, you can\u2019t immediately make a connection between the prototype and the E23<\/a>. Well, at least not from some angles. It\u2019s safe to say the real thing, penned by Paul Bracq, was far more beautiful than this oddly shaped contraption. It\u2019s important to note that BMW didn\u2019t seek to mimic another vehicle\u2019s shape. We\u2019ll be honest and admit that was our initial impression.<\/p>\n

\n

Rainer Wenleder from BMW Classic explained in an email to BMWBLOG<\/em> the logic behind this type of disguise:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe kind of camouflage used on the BMW E23 prototypes was not supposed to resemble a particular type of car. In fact, box-shaped attachments were contemporarily used to conceal the actual shape of prototype cars. Today, prototypes are wrapped in vinyl films with camouflage patterns to achieve this. Still, even today, certain parts of the bodywork on prototypes\u2014the contours of the head- and taillights\u2014are distorted by box-shaped attachments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BMW\u2019s nod to the past comes at a time when we\u2019re only months away from discovering the 7 Series facelift<\/a>. The G70 should break cover this spring or early summer, judging by the rumored start of production in July. As much as we\u2019d love to see a 7 Series Touring like this prototype falsely portrays, it\u2019ll remain a sedan. There\u2019s going to be a twist since not one, but two distinct flavors are on the way.<\/p>\n

Aside from the standard BMW-branded 7 Series, a more luxurious BMW ALPINA version is coming with a separate chassis code. Using \u201cG72\u201d instead of the usual \u201cG70\u201d suggests further differentiation. The newly founded sub-brand has been coy with details, revealing only a partial view of its fresh interpretation of the classic 20-spoke wheel design<\/a>. From what we\u2019ve heard, the pricier variant will essentially be a fully loaded G70 with distinctive ALPINA accents inside and out.<\/p>\n

The original 7 Series turns 50 next year, so here\u2019s hoping BMW, and its ALPINA sidekick, will honor the E23\u2019s legacy with the facelifted flagship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For automakers and businesses in general, social media channels are an effective way to promote products. However, marketing efforts aren\u2019t entirely focused on what you can buy today. When you\u2019re BMW and have a long heritage worth honoring, it pays to look into the rearview mirror every now and then. That brings us to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}