German BMW tuning specialist Alpina is preparing to celebrate its half-century in 2015, with the company considering special new models and the appearance at selected events of some of the most successful BMW Alpina competition cars. However, no details were offered about the anniversary editions.

Alpina’s current lineup includes high-performance petrol and diesel versions of BMW’s 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-Series, plus the X3. Since 1983, Alpina has been listed by Germany’s vehicle certification agency, the TÜV, as a car manufacturer, although it has no stamping or welding shop, nor an assembly line.

Alpina sells around 1,500 cars each year, all of which are built on BMW production lines with tuned parts developed by the company’s 50 engineers. The cars are then sent to Alpina’s headquarters in Buchloe, Bavaria, where they are finished with bespoke trim and equipment.The only exception to this rule is the X3-based Alpina XD3 Biturbo, which is shipped to Buchloe from BMW’s Spartanburg plant in the U.S. to be modified in-house.

While some may argue that Alpina may compete with BWM’s own M division, the tuner says that is not the case. Whereas BMW M vehicles are all about performance, Alpina vehicles blend performance with luxury, with every model featuring automatic transmission and softer settings for the suspension and brakes.

Surprisingly, the largest global market for Alpina vehicles is not Germany, but Japan, which takes more than a quarter of the entire production. The U.S., Germany, Belgium and Switzerland are other significant markets, with the UK making up around 10 percent of Alpina’s output.

In the UK, the group’s former owner, Frank Sytner, remembered how he managed to get the cars in the country.

“I could see the potential in the UK, but the problem was Type Approval and getting the blessing of BMW,” he said. “Because of my relationship with BMW I was able to talk to Alpina on the basis we had support from BMW We couldn’t bring complete cars in, so I got the cars from BMW GB with a kit containing all the stuff we needed to convert them. We then sent back the original engine.”

The first UK-market Alpina was the 528i-based B9 3.5 with a modified 3.5-litre six-cylinder engine, transmission, suspension and brakes. “It was an immediate success,” says Sytner. “We sold a lot of them.”

But it’s not just cars Alpina is selling – the company also owns a wine cellar with more than one million bottles. Alpina sells wine to major hotels and restaurants as well as celebrities.

By Dan Mihalascu

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