The Magnificent Sevens

Sporting subtle upgrades and a keen focus on usability, this pristine pair of 1980s Alpina B7s have certainly earned their stripes

- Dan Bevis

The function of Alpina, for as long as most of us can care to remember, has been to present a sort of connoisseur’s alternative to BMW’s own M cars. The fi rm – Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG, if you want to be precise about it – was established in 1965 as a BMW tuning outfi t, gaining many plaudits in racing through the late-1960s and early ’70s, and since the late-seventies it has been synonymous with road cars that offer a certain stylistic and performance-oriented enthusiasm; recognisable by their trademark pinstripes and 20-spoke alloys, they enjoy the distinction of being products of a recognised automobile manufacturer rather than an aftermarket tuner. And in the 1980s, if the likes of the M5 and M635CSi were just too mainstream for you, it was Alpina’s door you’d be beating a path to.

The models in question here are the B7 Turbo and B7 Turbo Coupé, based on the E28 5 Series and E24 6 Series respectively. The former was introduced in April 1984, heralded by Alpina as ‘the fastest four-door car in the world’, boasting a heavily reworked version of BMW’s M30 motor – it had a KKK K27 turbo (the same as you’d fi nd on a contemporary Porsche 911 Turbo), an intercooler, Mahle pistons, a remap and some head work, taking peak power to 300bhp. Production ran for a little over three years, with 236 examples being built (along with an additional 42 ‘B7 Turbo Kat’ catalystequipped cars). And the Coupé version? That also arrived in 1984, and just 130 of these were built, of which 20 were catalyst cars.