80 years of BMW design in a monumental new book

Even though this new publication on the art and design of BMW runs to three volumes, one gets the sense it could have been much longer. Over 80 years, BMW has often taken an idiosyncratic design path, swinging between smooth, sober Germanic perfectionism and a raucous, almost anti-aesthetic and confrontational approach, like the recent i Vision Dee, with its polychrome E Ink body panels.  

BMW: Behind the Scenes tells this story. The first volume, BMW by Design – which is also available as a standalone book – presents a richly illustrated overview of the company, from the icons of the 1970s and 1980s through to the very latest concepts like the BMW Vision Neue Klasse. 

BMW: Behind the Scenes

The author, Steve Saxty, was given unprecedented access to BMW’s archives, and worked hand in hand with Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, to get the story. The company has always prioritised the concept car as a way of exploring new forms and ideas, often going off on extremely unconventional tangents, such as Chris Bangle’s Gina Light Visionary Model, a flexi-skinned roadster only revealed in 2008, seven years after development started, Olafur Eliasson’s 2007 BMW H2R Art Car and the BMW Garmisch, a loving recreation of the 1970 Geneva Motor Show by Marcello Gandini.

Some of the most fascinating chapters of the history of car design are the creations that never saw the light of day, deemed too unorthodox, uneconomical or simply unbuildable to put before a paying public. For the most part, these sketches, renders, models and occasional full-size mock-ups stay hidden in the archives – if they’re not destroyed – and only sneak out long after the fact. Porsche recently dipped into its shadowy past with great success with the book Unseen Porsche and now it’s BMW’s turn. 

The second volume of the trio, BMW’s Hidden Gems, includes some of these unseen gems, many of which were given to Saxty by the French car designer Paul Bracq, who oversaw BMW design in the early 1970s.

The final volume, BMW Art by Design, focuses on the drawings and renderings that deserve special attention, often created during the design development process or for publicity purposes. Finishing off the set are art prints of 18 of these renderings, with the three volumes presented in a cloth-bound slipcase. 

The book is a true labour of love, covering 570 pages across three volumes and requiring over 100 interviews. ‘We wanted to capture the very spirit inside the BMW Group design team, our way of working and thinking, the passion, the risk-taking, and the tremendous dedication, time and energy our people expend,’ Adrian van Hooydonk says. ‘I think the result will provide readers with a glimpse of BMW’s future rather than just its past.’

The three volume set of BMW: Behind the scenes is available to pre-order from SteveSaxty.com, £244.95