Designer’s modern E24 BMW 6 Series is a sleek reinterpretation of a classic

BMW’s E24-generation 6 Series coupe is one of the brand’s style icons, and while the model exists today, the current version seems more like a wholly independent nameplate than a new version of that earlier car. What would a modern 6 Series coupe look like? A former Volkswagen designer has put pen to paper (or mouse to computer), and we’re digging the result.

Grigory Butin is a Munich-based designer who previously worked at Volkswagen. Originally from Russia, Butin describes himself as “a huge fan of old BMWs.” He says his aim was to “create a spiritual successor to this beautiful car keeping the essence of this timeless design.” The idea was to avoid an homage, “but rather something re-imagined.”

Butin’s modern E24 most obviously retains the shark-nose element but reinterprets it with the headlamp and grille separate. Those kidney grilles, by the way, take the opposite tack of production BMWs by becoming shallower rather than taller, yet they’re still clearly identifiable. The pointed, shark-nose theme is repeated at the rear, with the taillights above with a subtle hockey-stick reference. The roofline traces a graceful arc, with thin pillars (that unfortunately might not meet modern crush standards) and a rear quarter window whose shape is definitely evocative of the earlier car.

To our eyes, the design looks modern yet is unmistakably that of a 6 Series. We also can’t help but draw a contrast between the elegance of this coupe and the buck-toothed face of BMW’s latest production two-door, the new 4 Series. It shows that car design can respect the past without repeating it.

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