Karim Habib and his design team at BMW have unveiled a new hommage concept at the 2016 Concorso d’Eleganza. The BMW 2002 Hommage pays respects to the original and iconic 2002 Turbo. The car was designed by young French/Belarus designer – Alexey Kehza – and it incorporates retro design cues with modern accents, a trend that we’ve seen in all previous hommage concepts.
Based on the BMW 2 Series, the 2002 Hommage is a stunning looking car. Its horizontal carbon fiber that runs the length of the car separates matte and gloss finishes of the Space Race Metallic paint, with the top section being matter and the bottom being gloss. It also has single-circle yellow-tinted headlights to match the original 2002 Turbo and eats familiar M-colored livery in select places.
The front chin spoiler provides real downforce to the front end and those massively flared wheel arches also channel air through them and aren’t just there to look like the 2002 Turbos. The big rear wing is also there for aerodynamic purposes and, coincidentally, also reminds us of the E46 M3 CSL’s rear wing.
The bulging fenders are dramatic and sharp in their extension from the body, almost as if they were added on after the car was designed, which is done intentionally to evoke the bolt-on fender flares of the 2002 Turbo, which were added for homologation purposes after widening the wheel track. In a way, it reminds us of the flared fenders of the 1M.
The 2002 Hommage is simply a design exercise but it shows what the M division could do with the 2 Series/M2 packaging, which hopefully will translate in the future into a super sporty, track-ready coupe.
