BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage

D Pos - Hommage Mille Miglia. Hommage M1. Hommage CSL. Three great show cars, three missed opportunities.


For while BMW’s latest back catalogue reinvention has been met with nothing but breathless adoration and joy, for now the official response is almost painful in its predictability.


‘Don’t expect styling elements of the Hommage CSL to reappear on future BMW products – this is purely a concept, albeit a very exciting one,’ comments a company spokesman. Cue global mourning.


With understandable resignation, the men behind the Hommage toe the company line.


‘This model is not earmarked for production,’ says Adrian von Hooydonk, grandmaster of the group’s drawing board.


For now at least, it’s only a design exercise,’ confirms chief brand designer Karim Habib, before adding with a broad smile: ‘But of course we would be delighted to take it to the next level.’ 


Will the suits ever learn? Here we are, on our knees, admiring yet another amazing design study, and once again the company behind it fails to recognise its potential, to draw up a business case and to run it through a couple of customer clinics.


The only way to make the bureaucrats change their mind is by public opinion. So please allow us to whet your appetite by taking the two-seat Hommage concept around the block, literally – the only place we can drive the unregistered, handbuilt and very yellow coupe are the private grounds of Villa Erbe, next door to Villa d’Este, home of the annual BMW-sponsored Concorso d’Eleganza.

car

BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage

BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage

D Pos - Hommage Mille Miglia. Hommage M1. Hommage CSL. Three great show cars, three missed opportunities.


For while BMW’s latest back catalogue reinvention has been met with nothing but breathless adoration and joy, for now the official response is almost painful in its predictability.


‘Don’t expect styling elements of the Hommage CSL to reappear on future BMW products – this is purely a concept, albeit a very exciting one,’ comments a company spokesman. Cue global mourning.


With understandable resignation, the men behind the Hommage toe the company line.


‘This model is not earmarked for production,’ says Adrian von Hooydonk, grandmaster of the group’s drawing board.


For now at least, it’s only a design exercise,’ confirms chief brand designer Karim Habib, before adding with a broad smile: ‘But of course we would be delighted to take it to the next level.’ 


Will the suits ever learn? Here we are, on our knees, admiring yet another amazing design study, and once again the company behind it fails to recognise its potential, to draw up a business case and to run it through a couple of customer clinics.


The only way to make the bureaucrats change their mind is by public opinion. So please allow us to whet your appetite by taking the two-seat Hommage concept around the block, literally – the only place we can drive the unregistered, handbuilt and very yellow coupe are the private grounds of Villa Erbe, next door to Villa d’Este, home of the annual BMW-sponsored Concorso d’Eleganza.