BMW E30 C2 2.7 Alpina

Alpina's story began in 1962 when Burkard Bovensiepen developed a Weber dual carburetor for the BMW 1500. This carburetor was well received by the automotive press, as well as BMW's own sales boss Paul G. Hahnemann. In 1964, BMW certified the quality of this Alpina product by awarding BMW vehicles fitted with the Alpina system the full factory guarantee. Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen KG was established on 1 of January, 1965 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria. The company had eight employees. Although Alpina started by producing typewriters, the original Alpina ceased to exist at the end of the 1960s in their attempt to move into the textile industry. In 1965, Burkard established a BMW tuning business, following his success with investments in the stock market. He started the tuning business in an outbuilding of the original Alpina typewriter factory. The company worked on carburetors and revised cylinder heads. By 1970, with seventy employees, the original facility changed locations from Kaufbeuren to Buchloe. In its first years, Alpina established its core competency tuning carburetors and crankshafts to extract more power from BMW engines, elements that eventually defined the company's logo, which came into being in 1967. Between 1968 and 1977, Alpina cars did very well in competition. The highlight was in 1970, when the team's cars won the European Touring Car Championship, the German Hillclimb Championship, rally and track racing championships and the prestigious Spa 24 Hours. Alpina officially withdrew from racing in 1988 because of capacity limitations and restrictions. Tied to this was the decision to begin production of a new set of BMW Alpina automobiles. Since 1983 Alpina has been recognized by the German Federal Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer, thus Alpina-built cars are branded and registered as Alpina instead of BMW, although an Alpina can be bought and serviced at some BMW dealerships, and covered if there is a warranty issue. The Alpina C2 2.7 was only available from two UK dealers at this time. Sytner of Nottingham or L & C BMW of Tunbridge Wells. It was possible to buy the more modest C2 2.5 conversion with 190bhp for £3,995 plus VAT or for the customer craving even higher performance the C 2 2.7 litre conversion was available for a staggering £8,645 plus VAT, an amazing amount of money in 1989. The full 2.7 conversion included a 2693cc engine conversion taking it to 210 BHP at 5800 rpm with 213 lb. ft of torque, Alpina mapped Bosch Motronic ignition and injection, full Alpina exhaust system, Alpina valved Bilstein shocks with Alpina progressive rate springs, Alpina 7×16” front wheels with 205/55/16 tyres and Alpina 8×16” rear wheels with 225/45/16 tyres, Alpina front spoiler, Alpina rear spoiler, Alpina side skirts, Alpina and C2 2.7 badges, Alpina gear knob, Alpina steering wheel and Alpina numbered dash plaque. The performance was an outstanding 143 MPH top speed and 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. Many purists consider the C 2 2.7 to be the ultimate road going E30, still featuring the lovely M20 straight six engine and mixed with Alpina’s subtle blend of performance motoring for the true sporting enthusiast but with that lovely Alpina usability. The Alpina C2 E30 BMW will forever be a symbol of the 80s, and everyone who was anyone was driving around in a 3 series BMW, it did everything right. It was great to drive, and it was beautifully built, however for a chosen few who knew their cars, the Alpina variant was the car to have. Inside, the instrumentation, four spoke leather steering wheel, production plaque all attest to the owners taste and decency in choosing a model above the norm, this is a Q car of uncommon ability with mere mortal looks. Finished in BMW “delphin-metallic” with contrasting natural leather Recaro interior Alpina build number 7855 looks stunning. This vehicle was purchased by Mark Bevan in the UK in 2009 and was completely restored by him including a rebuild of the engine with no expense spared. Despite the 8 years since this work was carried out, the car has seen little use and is about as close as one can get to a brand new Alpina C2 2.7. The car still appears on the Alpina register as posted on the 29th August 2010 and is one of 17 cars listed. Gallery [gallery columns="5" link="file" style="flat" ids="4731,4722,4729,4730,4725,4724,4726,4727,4728,4723"]