The retro impression is strong when you find yourself looking at the BMW Concept Coup\u00e9 Mille Miglia 2006, a homage to the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coup\u00e9 of 1940. And yet the concept car does not have this kind of function, as Thomas Plath, head of the advanced design centre, explains: \u201cThe retro nature was not on the agenda at the project briefing, but the car\u2019s rich heritage was a definite focal point of an advanced process whose objective was creative freedom, exactly like 60 or 70 years ago\u201d.<\/p>\n
This was not the only aspect of the briefing. The Muinich design team also wanted to stress BMW\u2019s current language. \u201cBut we don\u2019t want the concave surfaces and explicit graphics to be mere fashion trends,\u201d says Plath. \u201cThey must last into the future.\u201d
\nWhile Thomas Plath outlines the project philosophy, Anders Warming, the designer who did the first sketches, points out: \u201cEverybody talks about a car\u2019s sculptural design, but the front part is still highly traditional, with its grille and integrated lights\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Concept Coup\u00e9 Mille Miglia is not wholly without retro elements, like the split windscreen, the stylised air outlets on the side panels and the covered rear wheels. Not even the glazing that opens like the canopy of an aircraft is new, while the instrument panel is a perfect example of simplicity and at the same time of technological innovation; it is obtained from a single piece of steel and takes its inspiration from the Japanese origami folding technique. In a scenario in which the term concept car has lost its true meaning, this vehicle introduces elements of advanced innovation and performs the pure function of study of styles and applications of the future in the design of the motor car.<\/p>\n
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 159<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>[images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200601_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×158.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200602_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×167.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200603_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×167.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200601_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×158.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200602_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×167.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1810200603_Compcept_Coup\u00e8_MM-300×167.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-design-story-en"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 12:35:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}