BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé revealed ahead of debut at 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

The BMW Gran Lusso Coupe by Pininfarina revealed ahead of Villa d’Este

Or at least it still does if you expect the new 8 Series to look like a two-door version of the next generation 7 Series, rather than a completely individual model like the old 8 Series.

Underpinning the Gran Lusso Coupe is the same platform the 7 Series uses and the same V12 from the 760i, which makes it both easier to bolt the Gran Lusso together and imagine it as future production model.

The exterior of the Gran Lusso looks a bit like a coachbuilt version of a big BMW coupe, with most of the BMW design cues intact – if sharpened somewhat – with short overhangs and a long wheelbase.

The interior looks like a hand crafted version of the interior of the 5 and 7 Series (we’d have preferred Pininfarina to base it on the 6 Series) with the expected addition of frivolous designer bits like deep pile carpets, hugely expensive leathers and 48,000 year old Kauri wood from New Zealand (we can’t imagine there’s an endless supply of that).

BMW’s flowery prose on the Gran Lusso runs to over 2,000 words, but that’s it in a nutshell. The thirty odd photos of the Gran Lusso Coupe will tell you everything else you really need to know.

Will BMW turn the Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé in to a new 8 Series or 7 Series Coupe? We wouldn’t be surprised.

By Cars UK