Alpina

Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH

Type	Public
Founded	1965
Headquarters	Buchloe, Germany
Key people	Burkard Bovensiepens
Industry	Automotive
Products	Automobiles
Website	alpina-automobile.de

Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany selling their own cars, based on BMW cars.

History

Alpina was founded by Burkard Bovensiepen, (b. 1936) who is still the CEO, started in 1965 with the foundation of Burkard Bovensiepen KG at Kaufbeuren in the southern German province of Bavaria. The original name can be traced to Dr. Rudolf Bovensiepen, his father, whose company's purpose was to make office machinery.

Although Alpina started by producing typewriters, the original Alpina ceased to exist at the end of the 1960s in their attempt to move into the textile industry. In 1965, Burkard established a BMW tuning business, following his success with investments in the stock market, he started the tuning business in an outbuilding of the original Alpina typewriter factory. The company worked on carburetors and revised cylinder heads. By 1970, with seventy employees, the original facility changed locations from Kaufbeuren to Buchloe.

Between 1968 and 1977, Alpina cars did very well in competition. The highlight was in 1970, when the team's cars won the European Touring Car Championship, the German Hillclimb Championship, rally and track racing championships and the prestigious Spa 24 Hours.

Brand distinctions

Since the late 1970s Alpina has been recognized by TÜV as an automobile manufacturer, thus Alpina-built cars are branded and registered as Alpina instead of BMW, although an Alpina can be bought and serviced at local BMW dealerships, and covered if there is a warranty issue. Distinctive features of ALPINA vehicles are 20 spoke alloy wheels, "Alpina Blue" patented metallic paint, in addition to expensive interior materials used to fabricate the exclusive interior appointments. A typical blue and green pattern (same as in the logo) is often used on interior parts such as stitchings on leather and different fabrics used in the upholstery. Also a thin, almost pinstripe like outside body decor set in gold or silver is also a trademark of Alpina cars. A metal plate inside also proves the heritage and the serial number of the car.

Most recently Alpina have produced a version of the current BMW E60 5-Series called the B5. The B5 offers a different take on performance and how to get it: unlike the V10 M5, the ALPINA B5 uses a supercharged V8 which produces similar power but has far greater torque.

Current lineup

Alpina D3 Biturbo

• ALPINA D3 Bi-Turbo Sedan / Touring and Coupe based on the BMW E90/E91/E92 with 123d engine - 214 PS (157 kW; 211 hp)
• ALPINA B3 Bi-Turbo Sedan / Touring / Coupe and Cabrio: based on the BMW E90/E91/E92/E93 335i
• ALPINA B5s Sedan/Touring: based on the BMW E60 5 Series - featuring a 4.4 L V8 supercharged 530 PS (390 kW; 520 hp) / 725 N·m (535 lb·ft)
• ALPINA B6s Coupé/Cabriolet: based on the BMW 6 Series - featuring a 4.4 L V8 supercharged 530 PS (390 kW; 520 hp) / 725 N·m (535 lb·ft)
• ALPINA B7 Bi-Turbo: based on the BMW F01 7 Series - featuring a 4.4 L V8 Bi-Turbo engine 507 PS (373 kW; 500 hp) / 700 N·m (520 lb·ft)^[1]

Previous models

• ALPINA B6 Coupe based on the BMW E30
• ALPINA B6S Coupe based on the BMW E30 M3
• ALPINA B6 Sedan/Coupe/Cabrio based on the BMW E21, BMW E30 and BMW E36
• ALPINA B7 Sedan based on the BMW E12, BMW E28, and BMW E65
• ALPINA B7 Turbo(S)Coupe based on the BMW E24
• ALPINA B8 Coupe/Cabrio/Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E36
• ALPINA B9 Sedan based on the BMW E28
• ALPINA B9 Coupe based on the BMW E24
• ALPINA B10 Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E28, BMW E34, and BMW E39
• ALPINA B10 Coupe based on the BMW E24
• ALPINA D10 Biturbo Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E39
• ALPINA B11 Sedan based on the BMW E32
• ALPINA B3 Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E36
• ALPINA B3 Coupe/Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E46
• ALPINA B3S Coupe/Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E46
• ALPINA B12 Coupe based on the E31 8-Series chassis.
• ALPINA B12 Sedan based on the E38 750i V12
• ALPINA C2 Coupe based on the BMW E30
• ALPINA C1 Coupe based on the BMW E21
• ALPINA Roadster S based on the BMW E85

Previous diesel models

• ALPINA D3 Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E90 320d - 200 PS (150 kW; 200 hp)
• ALPINA D10 Sedan/Touring based on the BMW E39 530d - featuring sequential turbochargers (biturbo) 245 PS (180 kW; 242 hp) / 390 N·m (290 lb·ft)

Gallery

Alpina logo on B12 5.7 Coupe	1974 BMW 3.0 CS 'ALPINA' profile view	1974 BMW 3.0 CS 'ALPINA' interior	right|ALPINA B7
ALPINA B6	ALPINA B5	Alpina B6 S	Alpina D3

References

External links

• ALPINA website