{"id":85599,"date":"2026-05-21T15:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85599"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:22:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:22:53","slug":"alpina-e24-b7-concorso-eleganza-villa-deste-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85599","title":{"rendered":"The 1978 ALPINA That Directly Inspired BMW&#8217;s New Vision Concept"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-summary-wrap\">\n<h3 class=\"post-summary-title\">Article Summary<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"post-summary-list\">\n<li>BMW displayed an ALPINA Green E24 B7 S Turbo Coupe in the Mosaic Garden immediately after unveiling the Vision BMW ALPINA at the 2026 Concorso d&#8217;Eleganza Villa d&#8217;Este.<\/li>\n<li>The E24 B7 directly informed the Vision concept&#8217;s shark nose, rear silhouette, and deco line treatment, with van Hooydonk citing it by name as the primary design reference.<\/li>\n<li>Only 153 examples of the B7 Turbo Coupe were built between 1978 and 1982, with a final 30-unit B7 S Turbo producing 330 horsepower from a 3.5-liter inline-six.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>After the covers came off the Vision BMW ALPINA Thursday night, BMW gave us another present the next morning. In the Mosaic Garden, parked there, under the lights, was an E24 ALPINA B7 in their iconic green. The placement wasn\u2019t subtle. You\u2019d just seen the future of the brand; now here was the car BMW says that future comes from.<\/p>\n<h2>The Inspiration From The E24 B7<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-513755\" title=\"ALPINA B7 E24 05\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"ALPINA B7 E24 05\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-05-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The B7 Turbo was introduced in December 1978, and it was the first 6 Series car with full ALPINA conversion bearing its own identification number. The engine was based on BMW\u2019s 3.0-liter unit, but the entire engine had been carefully rebuilt using lower-compression Mahle pistons and a new fuel injection system, and it featured variable boost control delivering between 250 and 300 horsepower.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 153 cars were built over just over three years. Then, in 1982, ALPINA went further. Thirty units of the ALPINA B7 S Turbo Coupe were produced, offering 330 horsepower. The ALPINA Green example parked in the Mosaic Garden \u2014 the one the crowd gathered around after the Vision reveal \u2014 carries that B7 S Turbo designation. Its engine is the 3.5-liter B7\/S inline-six based on the BMW M30B32, producing 330 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm.\u00a0To put that in context: it had roughly the power of a contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ferrari.com\/en-EN\/auto\/308-gts-quattrovalvole\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ferrari 308<\/a>, wrapped in a four-seat coupe you could use every day.<\/p>\n<h2>Why The Design Team Kept Coming Back To It<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-513759\" title=\"ALPINA B7 E24 04\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"ALPINA B7 E24 04\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-04-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>BMW\u2019s design boss, Adrian Van Hooydonk said the direct reference for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/05\/19\/bmw-alpina-vision-car-van-hooydonk-interview-villa-deste-2026\/\">Vision BMW ALPINA\u2019s sharknose<\/a> front end is the ALPINA B7 Turbo Coupe \u2014 the E24 6 Series with the extreme nose and deep plan view. \u201cThis one takes it even further,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s even more acute, even more extreme, more sculptural, more three-dimensional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rear was harder to solve. BMW\u2019s recent cars had gone either vertical or rearward-leaning at the top, and neither felt right for ALPINA. The solution came from the same source car: the E24 6 Series also has a slanted rear at this angle. That historical precedent gave the team permission to go there, and then they mirrored the plan shape front-to-back to give the car visual coherence.<\/p>\n<p>The deco lines first introduced during the mid-1970s have been retained on the Vision car, but rather than being applied as external graphics, they are now painted beneath the clear coat. On the E24 in the Mosaic Garden, those lines ran along the flanks in the traditional way \u2014 narrow stripes against the green, the kind of detail that looked understated from twenty feet away and was genuinely well-executed up close.<\/p>\n<h2>What ALPINA Green Means For The Brand<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-513758\" title=\"ALPINA B7 E24 02\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"ALPINA B7 E24 02\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/alpina-b7-e24-02-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not a coincidence that the example BMW chose to display alongside its future-facing concept was finished in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2024\/03\/22\/alpina-b3-touring-in-alpina-green-the-ultimate-wagon\/\">ALPINA Green<\/a>. The color has its own history within the brand \u2014 restrained where British Racing Green is loud, distinctive without being ostentatious. It suits the E24 the way the E24 suited its era: nothing about it announces itself, but it\u2019s very hard to ignore once you\u2019ve noticed it. So it comes as no surprise that BMW will retain the iconic ALPINA Green and Blue for their future cars.\u00a0The first production BMW ALPINA model under the new structure will be based on the G72 7 Series and is expected to debut in 2027, offered with both V8 and electric powertrains.<\/p>\n<p>But the E24 in the Mosaic Garden wasn\u2019t there to preview anything. It was there to remind you what the standard is. When you\u2019ve seen it in person \u2014 that particular shade of green, the lines still clean after more than four decades, the nose doing exactly what van Hooydonk said the Vision\u2019s nose is supposed to do \u2014 you understand why BMW keeps returning to it. Some cars make the argument for you. The E24 B7 has been making it since 1978.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary BMW displayed an ALPINA Green E24 B7 S Turbo Coupe in the Mosaic Garden immediately after unveiling the Vision BMW ALPINA at the 2026 Concorso d&#8217;Eleganza Villa d&#8217;Este. The E24 B7 directly informed the Vision concept&#8217;s shark nose, rear silhouette, and deco line treatment, with van Hooydonk citing it by name as the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85600,"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-85599","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\/85599","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=85599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}