Bovensiepen Zagato attends Villa d’Este show as a herald of change

The Bovensiepen family, best known for running the tuning company Alpina in Buchloe, Germany, is preparing for a major transformation of its car business.

The rights to the Alpina brand will be formally transferred to BMW in early 2026. However, the tuning company behind the badge will continue independent operation under its own brand name – Bovensiepen. Its first custom vehicle, the resplendent Bovensiepen Zagato, has debuted at the ongoing Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shore of Lake Como in Italy.

As you can guess from the name, the GT car was co-designed in a collaborative effort with the famous coachbuilder Zagato. True to its Alpina roots, it is based on the BMW 4-Series roadster but shares little with the base car aside from the chassis. The bodywork is almost all new and incorporates plenty of carbon-fiber parts, including a vented hood and a Double Bubble top. All BMW logos are gone, replaced with new Bovensiepen badges, and what used to be a controversial “nostril grille” now looks like a stylish stainless-steel mesh grille.

The GT is sized 4,943 x 1,913 x 1,394 mm large (193 x 74.7 x 54.5 inches) large. It isn’t too heavy by modern BMW standards with a curb weight of just 1,875 kilos, or 4,133 pounds. A custom set of 20-inch multi-spoke forged wheels rounds off the exterior.

The cabin retains the same overall layout except for an added sun visor on top of the instrument panel. The demo example seen here has a blue leather trim, but Bovensiepen says customers can choose from as many as 16 leather colors and 45 Alcantara tints.

Last but not least, the 3.0-liter inline-six under the hood enjoys a boost to 611 PS (603 hp / 449 kW) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft). The car now sprints 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.3 seconds and can exceed 300 km/h (186 mph). Further mechanical upgrades mentioned includes a lightweight titanium exhaust system by Akrapovic and a new suspension setup based on Bilstein Damptronic shocks. As per the tradition, drivers can switch between three modes called Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus.

All pricing and availability details will be announced in the final quarter of the year. The first deliveries are planned for late Q2 2026. Bovensiepen points out that every example takes over 250 hours to produce.