Wednesday, March 23, 2011

1969 Bertone BMW 2800 "Spicup" Concept

One-off designed by Bertone. The name Spicup is a combination of the terms “Spider” and “Coupe”. It was daring prototype made by Bertone and Marcello Gandini for BMW. A highlight of the design was the three-piece sliding top made of stainless steel. Using the BMW 2500 as a backbone, the designers at Bertone shortened the chassis to fit a new body and interior. Inside, only the gauges and pedals remained stock. Bertone fitted a new dashboard, seats and carpet with two tone, green on green upholstery. Bertone used the larger inline-6 from the BMW 2800. This capable 2.8 liter, six-cylinder engine produced 170 bhp and drove the rear wheels through a 4-speed manual transmission. These components made the prototype fully functional.

According to BMW, for decades, this one-of-a kind vehicle was believed to be lost, until it was discovered in a barn in 2008 and then restored. The car was sold for $615,618.00 in 2011 at a Bonhams auction. (Wikipedia, supercars.net & conceptcarz.com)






























(Photos from supercars.net, autobild.de, flickr.com & autoblog.com)