Alpina’s story was always about doing things differently than BMW. Not louder, not harder, but definitely faster and more sophisticated. In a recent interview, Andreas Bovensiepen, son of the founder and current head of the brand, reflects on how Alpina worked out his own identity. BovenSepen Rectract The GuttraTent Turbuer Luxury Limousins from the early 3- and 5 models to pioneer limousines that take the steps back. On the way, he announced how performance, comfort and even a few happy accidents defined his father’s society.
How Alpina differs from BMW M
Bovensiepen begins in one of the earliest Alpina models somewhat logical -the E21 3 series. “When we made cars like the E21, it was a 2.8-liter engine and 200 hp,” he says. “This was very unique, because the 323 of BMW was 143 hormaches and was therefore 50% higher performance.” For those who forget it, while the 323i received a six-pot, Alpina exhibited a larger 2.8-liter engine from the contemporary 528i. Alpina further stretched out the 2.8-liter mill with mahle-pistons, modified combustion chambers, higher compression and much more. “It was quite unusual,” says Bovensiepen.
He also illustrates how Alpina has determined new performance precedes in a time before widespread turbo charging. Or before BMW had a V8 or V12 engine in the mixture. “The only solution,” he says, and discusses how to make more power in the E12 BMW 5 series, “the use of turbos”. At that time, the B7 Turbo was the fastest sedan in the world with around 300 hp. A Coupé equivalent was similar to one of the most powerful coupes in the world. But Big Power wasn’t the only goal.
“This type of power supply was more like a Bentley,” Bovensiepen told the host. “A big torque on the floor,” he says, emphasizing the luxurious and “effortless” feeling that Alpina offered cars. He finally compares it to BMW M. “BMW M went in one direction with four valves per cylinder head, more over over,” he says. “It was a completely different attitude to win horsepower. And the cars were completely different than driving.”
Alpina does not make a “better M car”
Bovensiepen also explains how the brand differs from a similar BMW M. “We didn’t want to do a better M car,” he explains. “So of course it was my father’s idea to go more in a luxury direction.” Instead of the “racing car for the street”, Bovensiepen says that the brand has set off to make every car a “very nice cruiser for the highway”. Another way of how Alpina differed from BMW? Interior settings that, according to Bovensiepen, started with sports seats from Scheel and later Recaro in the late 1960s.
However, it was not necessarily the well -sized company, explains Bovensiepen. “Not everything was strategically planned,” he begins, “some things happened happily.” Such an accident was the Alpina Blue and Green – who comes from the request of a sponsor, painting one of her E9 CSLs in green. Apparently Bovensiepen senior liked the color and ran with it. Who knew that Alpina was the Bob Ross painting of motor vehicle -tuning houses?
Source: Motomantv Podcast
