BMW Gran Lusso Coupe Concept plots 8-series return

This sleek two door coupe concept, unveiled at the 2013 Villa d'Este Concourso d'Eleganza on Italy's Lake Como shores, could provide the stylistic inspiration for a BMW 8-series return.

The Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe is a contemporary four seater created in cooperation between BMW's in-house design team headed by Karim Habib and famed Italian design house Pininfarina.

The car is based on a modified rear-drive BMW 7-series platform and uses the 760i's 6.0-liter, 536-hp turbo V12 for power.

The new coupe is the first product of a co-operation between BMW and Pininfarina. BMW has co-operated with Zagato on concepts, including last year's Z4-based Zagato Concept Coupe.

Unlike the Zagato however, the Pininfarina car has a unique body pointing the way forward for BMW's design operations.

The Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe retains many typical BMW design elements, including a distinctive swept back silhouette and long hood, heavily raked screens, shallow glasshouse, a cabin positioned well back within a comparatively long wheelbase and a short boot lid.

Although described as a one-off, BMW admits the styling would allow the four-seat coupe to go into production with little change. The exterior combines an aggressive shark nose look up front with the familiar surfacing treatment already established on existing BMW production models together with newly wrought Pininfarina details, giving it a sleek yet aggressive look.

The sleekness inherent in the exterior continues inside, where it is mated with traditional BMW features such as a center console angled towards the driver.

The high quality materials inside further enhance the car's upmarket aspirations. They include black and tobacco brown leather upholstery from Italian company Foglizzo, trims sourced from a single piece of ultra rare kauri wood from New Zealand, black chrome applications in the dash and grey virgin wool headliner.

BMW has not officially commented on rumors suggesting the coupe previews plans for a new rival to Bentley Continental GTs and the like. Yet sources asking to remain anonymous suggested BMW board members are weighing a return to the high-end coupe ranks.

“We want to send out the message the future is not all about electric cars, but also traditional models with real emotional appeal. Whether that includes an 8-series is not yet decided. But the Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe gives an indication of how such a car might look.”

By Greg Kable