The BMW Museum is devoting a complete temporary exhibition exclusively to the development of the brand’s big coupés and convertibles: from 28 October 2011 to the end of September 2012, visitors to the Museum Bowl will be taken on a journey back in time through the world of elegant sports cars. The tone is set by the BMW 327 Sports Convertible and the BMW 327/28 – which were two of BMW’s most beautiful pre-war cars. They are followed by BMW 502s and 503s in convertible and coupé versions, as well as the BMW 2000 CS and 3200 CS, shaped by the spirit of the 1960s. The world of the big coupés of the1970s is highlighted with the 3.0 CSi and the 635CSi, which began the 6 Series that has remained successful to this day. Nor will representatives of the 8 Series be absent – the cars which BMW claims to be the best coupés in the world.

In 2003, with the second generation of the BMW 6 Series, the company resumed this successful tradition. And so the upper circle of the Museum Bowl is devoted to the convertibles and coupés of the 21st century, including the current 2011 models. While the 6 Series models of 2003 with their sculptural design language and alternation of concave and convex surfaces still divided public opinion at the time, the current BMW 6 Series has clearly grown up and now radiates both sophistication and lightness.

The big, luxurious BMW coupés and convertibles are fitted with sporty and powerful engines. Yet the focus of the exhibition is more strongly placed on the design qualities. A total of 14 exhibits from the period of 1937 to 2011 trace the lines of development. Original hand drawings from the BMW Group Archives recall the long tradition of design, which first took tangible shape at BMW in 1938 with the creation of a separate creative design department. We remember Wilhelm Meyerhuber, Wilhelm Hofmeister, Georg Bertram, Manfred Rennen, Wolfgang Seehaus, as well as international designer greats like Count Albrecht Goertz, Giovanni Michelotti, Nuccio Bertone, Paul Bracq, Claus Luthe, Christopher Bangle, right up to Adrian van Hooydonk. All of them played a part in the great success of this Concours d’Elegance and have, to this day, decisively shaped the face and identity of the BMW brand.