ALPINA celebrates its 50th anniversary.

In the world of high performance automobiles and racing, ALPINA has enjoyed an excellent reputation for decades. The BMW ALPINA B6 2.8, often called “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, the grand B7 S Turbo Coupé or the spectacular ROADSTER V8 – all these cars are milestones of an automotive success story. The beginnings in the early 1960s were a far cry from being spectacular. In a garage adjacent to his father’s former typewriter factory, company founder Burkard Bovensiepen developed a Weber twin carburetor system to enhance the performance of his BMW 1500. The result of the ALPINA unit: 90 hp instead of the standard 80 hp. “I have been a car enthusiast since my early childhood, and ever since, I have intensely studied the theoretical and practical foundations of automotive engineering”, says company founder Burkard Bovensiepen. “Developing the ALPINA unit was the first logical step along that way. I had no way of foreseeing that ALPINA would turn out to write such a great success story, but I was definitely strongly determined to pursue my goals.”

OneShift Editorial Team

23 Jun 2015

After BMW board member for sales, Paul G. Hahnemann, had green lighted the “ALPINA unit”, the success story took its turn. After the official foundation of the company in 1965, the next decades saw the evolution of a manufacturing plant for exclusive automobiles with racing genes. In times of modern turbo engines, the ALPINA multi-carburetor unit is a blast from the past, just like the company’s early years as an address for customers who were interested in enhancing their BMW’s performance. However, ALPINA’s early claims have remained unaltered. ALPINA cars still offer that certain something and are the exclusive means of sporty yet luxurious transportation.

With more than 1,700 BMW ALPINA automobiles sold, ALPINA achieved a sales record last year. The company that started out with eight people has turned into a successful medium-sized automotive business with its own engineering centre, featuring the most sophisticated engine and emissions test bays. Customers‘ individual wishes are fulfilled by the in-house upholstery shop. The automotive portfolio is complemented by a successful wine import business. 220 people work at the company’s headquarters in Buchloe near Munich. Sales operations for ALPINA automobiles are provided worldwide by selected BMW dealerships and importers. 90% of the annual turnovers, which recently reached approximately 100 million Euros, are contributed by the automobile business, 10% come from selling great wines from famous vintages.

Celebrations for the anniversary will not only be held in June at the company’s headquarters, in Buchloe in the Allgäu, but we will also celebrate with two edition models: the BMW ALPINA B5 Bi-Turbo EDITION 50 and the BMW ALPINA B6 Bi-Turbo EDITION 50 – two cars that, with their 600 hp respectively, can rightfully claim the crown within their respective segments. They follow the traditional traces of their equally exclusive and sporty ancestors, the B7 S Turbo models based on the BMW 5 Series and 6 Series of the 80s.

Credits: Oneshift News Team