ALPINA

The close collaboration between ALPINA and BMW is evident across all stages of the inception of a new model. Working closely with BMW, they begin simultaneous development and testing, long before a new model is launched, ensuring each BMW ALPINA builds upon the virtues of its BMW counterpart. ALPINA provides all necessary technical information and replacement parts to the BMW network, meaning servicing and warranty work is fully integrated and carried out in the normal way – at any BMW dealer.

The Beginning

The early history of Alpina in Britain was a chequered one. During 1970 Crayford Engineering, (better known for its convertible and estate conversions of Ford saloon cars), imported Alpina Tuning parts. Crayford put together at least one complete Alpina demonstrator, based on a 2002 which was on the road before the end of 1970.

Touring Car racer Brian Muir, from his premises in Brent Middlesex, was distributing Alpina parts by 1972. During 1973 he was contracted by Alpina when he scored some notable successes in the European Touring Car Championships partnering Nikki Lauda in the Alpina 2800CS. He later traded as Alpina Automotive Ltd and was based in Pershore. Alpina Sport Parts were also available through BMW dealerships by 1973 co-ordinated by BMW’s UK importers. The Alpina concession then passed to Tom Walkinshaw in the mid 1970’s.

Considering the prospect of official designation as automotive manufacturer in 1983, it not only made sense, but was simply becoming a necessity to establish an official dealership network for the BMW ALPINA brand. To this end, Alpina, through the medium of BMW GB, ended up putting itself into the care of the Sytner Group of Nottingham. This pairing worked from the outset, as Burkard Bovensiepen could hardly resist the Sytner brothers’ charisma. In 1957, Alan had established the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where john Lennon and Paul McCartney would have their first stage appearance, before also performing there for the first time as The Beatles in 1961. He thinks, I work, was how Frank would describe the division of labour with his congenial brother Alan. Frank himself was hardly a shrinking violet either, having earned himself the honourable nickname Fearless during Formula Ford races. Since 1968, the Sytner’s had been operating a BMW dealership in Nottingham together and would also sell Ferraris and Jaguars later on. Key to their business success was the combination of new car sales and a used car showroom of the finest order, whose stock, in 1982, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin impressed Alpina quite considerably. It was obvious that nobody would be better at selling Alpinas to the Brits than Frank Sytner. His name not only had a nice ring to it in the right circles, but he also did some daring advertising on behalf of Alpina. One of his mid-1980s ads showed a BMW ALPINA В9 3,5, (the world’s fastest four-door), in the foreground; a Porsche 928 S in the midfield and a Hawker 700A in the background. The headline explained, Executive Jet – Executive Sports Car, which naturally referred to the BMW ALPINA, against which the Porsche and, in the text, the Ferrari Mondial could only lose out. Once Sytner had taken over distribution, Alpina’s business in the UK truly took off. As the high demand for right hand drive BMW ALPINAs could soon no longer be met, Sytner — having had his staff trained at Buchloe – started knock-down production of Alpina vehicles for the UK market. Among them was a particularly rare concoction BB could never quite warm to. As the Turbo BMW 745i was not available in right-hand drive, Sytner came up with the first B7, namely a BMW 735i RHD, built to Alpina B9 specifications. Maybe also due to some of the Sytner brothers’ idiosyncrasies, the UK quickly turned into one of Alpina’s most important markets

The Car Club Alpina Community

The BMW Car Club Alpina Community was started due to the increasing popularity of the ALPINA brand within both the enthusiast market and within the BMW Car Club. For many years the ALPINA brand was seen as merely a tuned or performance BMW and was therefore under the banner of the M Power Community. However, although ALPINA produced cars do indeed offer great performance advantages over the base models they originate from, be that 3 series, 5 series or other BMW’s, they are as much about the exclusivity and smoothness of the drive as they are about the top speed or 0-60 performance, torque or engine size.

The community embraces all ALPINA models from early converted 2002s and CSLs (although rarity of these models lessens their prominence in the Club), right through to the very latest offerings from Buchloe and into the future of Alpina under BMW ownership. The Community welcomes the introduction of the Alpina Classic brand and its support and parts supply for the Buchloe era of Alpina. A further venture for the Bovensiepen family sees the introduction of the Zagato, and possibly other models, the Car Club also embraces this initiative and its owners.

The Car Club also aims to arrange events and meetings where owners can meet and show off their pride and joy, and is keen to encourage participation at any event, whether it be a local event or a larger national event such as the BMW Car Club National Festival or the other regional held events.

We also intend to foster relationships with other European Alpina clubs and groups in order to facilitate exchange visits and meets.