Photo: jlord8/Instagram
The BMW 8 Series made a highly-anticipated comeback to the market in 2018 but many enthusiasts consider that the modern iteration will never be as cool as the original grand tourer of the 1990s. And that's something you can't argue with.
Because let's face it, a sleek coupe with pop-up headlamps, angular lines, and a V12 engine will always win against a bloated 4 Series. But unlike its modern successor, the first-gen E31 8 Series was restricted to just one body style, the two-door coupe.
BMW's initial plans included a convertible version, but the project was canceled due to high development costs. A prototype was complete and still exists in the company's museum. Likewise, BMW also created a beefed-up M8 prototype with more than 600 horsepower, but this variant was also shelved. The M8 remained a well-kept secret until 2010 when BMW unveiled the car to the public.
The German company did not develop additional versions of the E31 beyond the convertible and the high-performance M8 but that didn't stop digital artists from going wild on the original 8 Series. The latest take on the 1990s grand tourer comes from Instagram's "jlord8" and turns the coupe into a station wagon. And mind you, it's not a two-door shooting brake, but a full-blown four-door grocery getter. And it kinda looks the part.
It's something you wouldn't normally expect from a car with a wedge-shaped nose, but the low front fascia works well with the boxy rear end. Just like it did for the 1987 Aston Martin Lagonda that Swiss company Roos Engineering turned into a station wagon in 1998.
The artist chose the 850CSi, which was the E31's range-topping version, as a base for this rendering. While not radically different on the outside, the CSi came with the most powerful iteration of the S70 V12 engine on this side of the McLaren F1.
Rated at 375 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, the 5.6-liter V12 was capable of pushing the grand tourer from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph( in only 5.9 seconds. And needless to say, a wagon version could be almost as quick. Unfortunately, the 850CSi Wagon exists only in the digital world and that's not going to change.
BMW's initial plans included a convertible version, but the project was canceled due to high development costs. A prototype was complete and still exists in the company's museum. Likewise, BMW also created a beefed-up M8 prototype with more than 600 horsepower, but this variant was also shelved. The M8 remained a well-kept secret until 2010 when BMW unveiled the car to the public.
The German company did not develop additional versions of the E31 beyond the convertible and the high-performance M8 but that didn't stop digital artists from going wild on the original 8 Series. The latest take on the 1990s grand tourer comes from Instagram's "jlord8" and turns the coupe into a station wagon. And mind you, it's not a two-door shooting brake, but a full-blown four-door grocery getter. And it kinda looks the part.
It's something you wouldn't normally expect from a car with a wedge-shaped nose, but the low front fascia works well with the boxy rear end. Just like it did for the 1987 Aston Martin Lagonda that Swiss company Roos Engineering turned into a station wagon in 1998.
The artist chose the 850CSi, which was the E31's range-topping version, as a base for this rendering. While not radically different on the outside, the CSi came with the most powerful iteration of the S70 V12 engine on this side of the McLaren F1.
Rated at 375 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, the 5.6-liter V12 was capable of pushing the grand tourer from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph( in only 5.9 seconds. And needless to say, a wagon version could be almost as quick. Unfortunately, the 850CSi Wagon exists only in the digital world and that's not going to change.
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