Unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este earlier this year, the BMW 8 Series Concept has since been going around the world, showing its sexy curves to audiences worldwide. On certain occasions, people got to see the designer behind this iconic revival as well, explaining what makes the Concept stand out. John Buckingham is now doing us a service by doing the same in the video posted below, published on BMW’s official Youtube account.
The exterior brings together the past and the future as John repeatedly said in press conferences. The BMW 8 Series Concept is immediately recognizable as a BMW, but also displays new design ideas and form-building techniques. As Buckingham puts it “From 100 feet away you should see that this is a completely new product from BMW”. The silhouette of the Concept spreads low, conveying power, while the front end and its kidney grilles have been exaggerated on purpose for the same reason.
And while the concept does look enticing, we can’t wait for the production model to come out. That’s not only because it will be bringing back the 8 Series nameplate after a long hiatus but also because of what we’ve been hearing about it. While the Coupe, Convertible and Gran Coupe versions all sound great, the fact that we’ll finally get an M8 is probably the best piece of news fans of the BMW brand have gotten this year.
Production of the new 8 Series will kick off in 2018 with market introduction being scheduled for the summer. The 850i model will have a brand new version of the 4.4-liter V8 engine under the hood making over 500 HP and will get exclusive features such as a carbon fiber roof, for example, on the M Sport models. The M8 on the other hand will arrive at a later date and will have even more power, combined with a reduced weight for optimum performance.
