BMW Digs Into Its Archives With Outdated Prototype Photographs

It’s that point of yr when automakers look again at how busy they’ve been over the previous 12 months. BMW, nevertheless, is doing issues in another way, dialing the time machine a lot additional again. These intriguing photographs present prototypes of the 7 Collection and eight Collection present process winter testing in a snowy wonderland.

The images had been probably taken a number of years aside, on condition that the unique 8 Collection debuted in 1990, whereas the third-generation 7 Collection arrived in 1994. A more in-depth look reveals a few peculiar design particulars on each prototypes. Take the 7 Collection, for instance: a 750iL fitted with a trunk spoiler and what seems to be a heckblende.

What the heck is a heckblende, you ask? It’s the German time period for “rear cowl.” Whereas it might seem like a light-weight bar partially obscured by snow on this prototype, it’s really a reflective panel that makes the taillights seem linked. Many automobiles featured these again within the day, both from the manufacturing facility or via the aftermarket. Their modern-day equivalents are full-width LED gentle bars spanning the complete rear of a car.

As for the coupe, it wears an angular grille with the kidney components bisected by a horizontal bar and flanked by extra air intakes. Across the similar time, BMW additionally explored the thought of an 8 Collection Convertible, although it by no means got here to fruition. The open-top 850i was developed between 1989 and late 1990 earlier than being canceled. Executives in Munich feared it wouldn’t promote properly sufficient to justify the funding. In hindsight, it was in all probability a superb determination, because the coupe itself was hardly a industrial success.

Quick-forward to 2025, and their modern-day equivalents face very completely different futures. The 7 Collection is about to obtain a mid-cycle facelift subsequent yr, when the ALPINA model is predicted to return. The 8 Collection, in the meantime, is nearing the top of the street, with manufacturing scheduled to finish in April. The high-performance M8 has already been discontinued globally, and BMW has made no dedication to a 3rd technology, leaving the 8 Collection’ future trying bleak.

Supply: BMW Traditional / Instagram