Fictional British spy James Bond is hardly what you’d call a “one-woman man.” Much the same can be said of his relationship with cars. While arguably Aston Martin makes the most solid case, Bond has piloted an armada of brands ranging from a 70s Ford Mustang, an amphibious Lotus Esprit, and even a Toyota 2000GT in You Only Live Twice. Among the decades of Bond cars sits a small but critical cache of BMWs: the BMW Z3, BMW 750iL, and BMW Z8. These cars provided much of the same virtues as many of Bond’s Astons; which brings us to the topic for today. The Vision BMW ALPINA — or the production car that follows it — would be the perfect next Bond car.
The Vision BMW ALPINA Makes a Great Bond Car
Whether hailing from Bavaria, Gaydon, or anywhere else, there’s a bit of a criteria for Bond cars. But we’ll broach arguably the most important one first: it has to be exclusive. Of the BMW bunch, the Z8 defined this characteristic best. But if you look at other important Bond cars — like the Aston Martin DB5 and DBS — exclusivity comes standard. Almost any ALPINA would fit the bill here, but the car that follows most closely in the Vision BMW ALPINA’s footsteps (or of course, the concept itself) will do the job the best. Most of ALPINA’s range-toppers sell in extremely small numbers, with most estimates placing around 2,000 units of any given generation rolling out of Buchloe. There is no doubt in my mind that the Vision BMW ALPINA will be similarly rare.
Like the Z8, and very much in-character for the Bond universe, the Vision BMW ALPINA has another thing working for it — its looks. Almost all Aston Martins are exceptionally pretty cars; the same can be said for the Z8 and, I think, for the Vision BMW ALPINA. It’s a striking and delicate balance between the ALPINA of old, BMW’s new Neue Klasse styling, and even the Bovensiepen Zagato. The bugling rear fenders, long hood, short overhangs, and opulent interior combine to make the Vision BMW ALPINA positively lustworthy. On the topic of the interior, what about those trick glasses, dispatched from a self-deploying mechanism? Sounds like the perfect way to disperse weapons to a trapped or otherwise down-and-out MI6 agent. Not to mention BMW’s Panoramic Display, which could be fiddled with to display all sorts of different espionage-relevant information. The car practically writes its own part!
It Looks the Part — Does It Need Anything Else?
Actually, we’re glad you asked. The best Bond cars are also some of the quickest cars on the road at any given time, and we think the Vision BMW ALPINA will exceed expectations in that arena, too. The Vision BMW ALPINA’s V8 is a well-known quantity in the BMW world today. Dubbed the S68 engine, it appears in everything from the M5 Touring to the X7 M60 and plenty of models in between. That engine’s good for around 600 horsepower without breaking a sweat; which means the Vision BMW ALPINA is gonna be quick. While few ALPINA models can be considered lightweights, even if the car weighs around what the outgoing B7 weighs (around 4,650 pounds/2,110 kg), the car will be plenty quick. For reference, the last ALPINA B7 (G12) scooted from zero to 60 mph in around 3.6 seconds and achieved a top speed of 205 mph (330 km).
Unfortunately, those are just musings based on what’s possible. ALPINA hasn’t released any specifics about the Vision BMW ALPINA — or any car based upon it — just yet. We do know that concepts from Villa d’Este — where the Vision BMW ALPINA debuted this year — have made it into production even after being touted as “only a concept.” But whether the Vision BMW ALPINA follows a timeline akin to the BMW Speedtop remains to be seen. Assuming it doesn’t, we would guess that the final piece of the puzzle for the Vision BMW ALPINA becoming a Bond car would, of course, be a drivable, production-ready version of the car. Considering the next James Bond movie doesn’t even have a confirmed lead yet, though, there’s plenty of time for that.
