Lapo Elkann, President and Founder of Garage Italia Customs, visits the BMW Group and shows the BMW i8 Futurism Edition to Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design. “Garage Italia Customs and the BMW brand both share all the values connected to technology evolution and the continuous search for innovation in their specific sectors” stated Lapo Elkann.
BMW Italia and Garage Italia Customs have created the BMW i8 Futurism Edition to celebrate 50 years of BMW history in Italy. The Edition combines the icon of future mobility with the Italian art of Giacomo Balla.
“Lampada ad Arco”, the work of Giacomo Balla, is replicated on the car. The original painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It represents a street lamp powered by electricity under moonlight. The revolutionary color technique and the advent of electricity in the 1900s are strictly linked to the future technology of the BMW i8. The upholstery in the interior shows iridescent reflections when hit by light and is made by Solaro, a fabric that is used for suits.
BMW i stands for visionary vehicle concepts and technologies, as well as a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 50 countries with the BMW i3 (electric car for metropolitan areas) and the BMW i8 (plug-in-hybrid sports car). The BMW i8 is the world’s best-selling hybrid sports car and represents an icon of future mobility.
“There was immediate synergy with BMW Italia the very first time we met for the i8 Futurism Edition project. The BMW i8 Futurism Edition is a practice of style. It gave the Garage Italia Customs Maestros a chance to celebrate a car which is projected towards the future of mobility. At the same time, it honours Italian art with Giacomo Balla, who is a prominent figure of the Futurism movement” said Lapo Elkann.
