New BMW 8 Series: let’s party like it’s 1999

The BMW Concept 8 Series is one of the stars of the Frankfurt Motor Show 2017. But how much of this sleek, luxurious GT will make production?

BMW 8 SeriesWhat goes around comes around. When production of the BMW 8 Series ended in 1999, Bavaria abandoned the large coupe sector, before launching the controversially-styled 6 Series in 2003. Now, nearly two decades on, the 8 Series is back, signalling the end of the 6 Series.

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BMW 8 SeriesBMW is pushing further up market, you see, with what it calls a “new presence for its luxury cars”, rolling out ever larger vehicles with levels of refinement that would give a boutique hotel room a run for its money. Some are best viewed from behind the sofa – you’ll have seen the X7 – while others can slacken jaws for all the right reasons.

An athletic gentleman

According to BMW, the Concept 8 Series “combines the agility of an athlete with the manner of a gentleman” which, in standard lingo, means that it’s as home hurtling across continents at Autobahn speeds as it is on the Buttertubs Pass.

BMW 8 SeriesOpinions will inevitably vary on the success, or otherwise, of the styling, but there’s a rakish elegance to the 8 Series. If the svelte coupe is the Kendall, the bloated X cars are the Kim. In profile, it is devastatingly handsome, almost arrow-like in appearance.

M8 is coming, too

BMW has chosen not to muddy the waters with talk of powertrains, prices and specs, but the M8 GTE World Endurance Championship car hints at a future M8 flagship. You can expect details of the showroom 8 Series when the production version is unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show in December.BMW 8 Series

Mercedes is gearing up for a fight by giving its S-Class Coupe a nip and tuck ahead of the 8 Series’ launch in 2018. Stuttgart’s take on the £100k super-coupe is more brutish in appearance, a bit too ‘here and now’. The 8 Series is a stargazer: a welcome tonic to the glut of crossovers and SUVs that litter our streets.

The 8 Series is back. Come next year, we’ll be partying like it’s 1999.

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Gavin Braithwaite-Smith
Gavin Braithwaite-Smithhttp://www.petrolblog.com
Writer with a penchant for #FrenchTat. Owns 15 vehicles of varying degrees of terribleness. Also doing a passable impression of Cousin Eddie in an Italian-German beige motorhome. Doesn't get out much.

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