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Carsales Staff16 May 2006
NEWS

Mille Miglia Beemer previews Coupé launch

Underneath BMW's Mille Miglia tribute is the marque's latest M-car

It might look like a refugee from a pre-war racing newsreel, but under the skin BMW's latest concept car is thoroughly modern. Built to celebrate the marque's record setting 1940 performance in the classic Italian road race, the BMW Concept Coupé Mille Miglia 2006 is actually a re-skinned Z4 M Coupe.

Unveiled on the weekend at the 24th re-running of the icon event from Brescia in northern Italy, the Concept Coupé Mille Miglia 2006 previews the launch of its 'donor' car in Europe this week.

Though finished to resemble the early racecar's alloy coachwork, the concept's arresting body is carbon-fibre reinforced composite. The car is 40mm lower than the new Z4 M Coupé but 230mm longer and 140mm wider. It rolls on bespoke 20-inch alloy wheels and features innovative oversized LED headlamps and a z-shaped asymmetric rear tail lamp.

BMW says the car's design -- which features access via an aircraft-style rear-hinged canopy -- "pays homage to the skills, successes and the visions of the motor sports pioneers of the past."

The Mille Miglia (literally: 1000 miles) road race was conducted from 1927 to 1957. BMW won the event in 1940 using a specially constructed lightweight and tuned version of its iconic 328 roadster. The winning 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé recorded an average speed of 166.7km/h -- a record that still stands today

A recreation of the event has been run using historic period racecars since 1977. According to the automaker this year's event saw 375 vehicles take part including 22 BMWs.

CarPoint's review of the new BMW Z4 M Coupe will be published next week. The Z4 M Roadster was featured recently. Click here for full details.

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