Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Alpina XB7 Bows Out After 60 Years of Bovensiepen Rule

For six decades, the name Alpina has meant something quietly subversive. Not loud like an M badge. Not ostentatious like an AMG. But faster, rarer, and wrapped in the kind of restraint that makes connoisseurs nod knowingly. And now, that chapter closes.

The final car to emerge from Alpina as it has existed under the Bovensiepen family since 1965 will be a limited-run special edition of the XB7—an “exclusive, limited-production” sendoff destined only for the United States and Canada. It’s a fitting farewell. If ever there were a market that understood Alpina’s velvet-glove, iron-fist ethos, it’s North America.

Although BMW officially took ownership of Alpina on January 1, this swan song XB7 was developed under the watch of the founding Bovensiepen family. In fact, the production agreement for the car was reportedly inked before the brand transitioned into BMW’s hands. Think of it as the last bottle from a family vineyard just sold to a global conglomerate.

A Landmark Moment for Buchloe

This unveiling marks the end of Alpina’s 60-year run as an independent manufacturer—yes, manufacturer. Since its founding by Burkard Bovensiepen in 1965, Alpina wasn’t merely a tuner. It held official manufacturer status, complete with factory warranties and its own VIN numbers. That distinction mattered.

The company’s final fully standalone model was the Alpina B8 GT, revealed in January 2025. Based on the 8 Series, it was a traditional Alpina sendoff: understated, devastatingly quick, and upholstered in more Lavalina leather than a Milan atelier.

Historically, Alpina built its reputation on discreetly devastating performance saloons and coupés. Cars like the 3 Series-based Alpina B3 and diesel-powered D3 weren’t about Nürburgring lap times. They were about cross-continental velocity—the ability to cruise at autobahn speeds all day, in silence, with the heated seats gently kneading your spine.

The XB7 special edition, then, feels like a modern interpretation of that same idea. It’s a three-row luxury SUV with the heart of a muscle car and the manners of a diplomat.

Why Sell?

The Bovensiepen family agreed to sell Alpina to BMW in 2022, citing a simple but telling reason: no compromise. In an era barreling toward electrification, maintaining Alpina’s distinct character would have required massive investment—particularly in software engineering to meaningfully differentiate electric Alpinas from their BMW counterparts.

As Andreas Bovensiepen explained, doing so at the scale Alpina operated would have been financially ruinous. To remain truly independent in the EV age would have meant either diluting the brand or risking insolvency. For a company built on doing things properly—or not at all—that wasn’t an option.

BMW, for its part, framed the acquisition as an opportunity to inject “even greater diversity” into its luxury lineup. Translation: Alpina would move further upmarket, becoming a bespoke, high-performance foil to Mercedes-Maybach.

To guide that transformation, BMW appointed former Polestar design chief Max Missoni to oversee Alpina’s styling future. The promise? An extraordinary range of bespoke options and a more distinct design language—though whether it retains that uniquely Alpina subtlety remains to be seen.

A New Chapter Begins—Elsewhere

Meanwhile, the Bovensiepens haven’t retired to sip Riesling. They’ve launched a new eponymous car company and already revealed their first creation: a reimagined BMW M4 clothed in bespoke coachwork by Zagato. It’s an unmistakable statement: the family may have sold Alpina, but not their appetite for finely tuned excess.

The End of an Era

As for the XB7 special edition, details remain under wraps until its official reveal. But the symbolism is clear. For 60 years, Alpina operated in the margins—between luxury and performance, between factory and tuner, between anonymity and cult status.

This final Bovensiepen-era XB7 isn’t just another limited-production SUV. It’s a closing chord. A reminder that before branding strategies and EV platforms, there was a small workshop in Buchloe building faster BMWs for people who preferred their speed served with restraint.

After Friday, Alpina begins again. But it will never quite be this Alpina.

Source: Alpina

NEW CARS

Toyota bZ4X Touring BEV

Toyota’s first swing at a mass-market EV SUV, the bZ4X, was competent, sensible, and about as emotionally expressive as a spreadsheet. Now comes the sequel: the bZ4X Touring, launched in Japan on February 25, 2026. And this time, Toyota says it listened.

The pitch is simple: keep the original’s easygoing electric manners and range, then inject a dose of utility, performance, and outdoorsy credibility. Think less suburban shuttle, more weekend-warrior long-hauler.

More Metal, More Space, More Purpose

The headline number? Roughly 1.4 times more luggage space than the standard bZ4X. That’s not a subtle tweak—it’s a mission statement. Toyota’s internal research apparently found that families eyeing EVs still want something that can swallow camping gear, sports equipment, and the inevitable “just in case” duffel bags.

The Touring obliges with a significantly enlarged cargo hold and a squared-off rear profile that looks ready for a roof box and a muddy golden retriever. Outdoor-inspired trim details underline the message: this isn’t just an EV; it’s an EV that wants to leave pavement.

Range That Silences the Doubters

Toyota claims a class-leading 734 km (456 miles) of cruising range. In a world where range anxiety still lurks like a low-battery warning at 2 a.m., that’s a big deal. It puts the bZ4X Touring squarely in long-distance territory—road-trip capable without the need for a charging strategy worthy of NASA mission control.

Even better, rapid charging can take the battery from low to livable in about 28 minutes, even in cold conditions. That’s the kind of real-world usability metric that matters more than theoretical peak charging rates. Ski trip? No problem. Frozen charger cables? Less of a problem.

Quick Enough to Be Interesting

Then there’s the 4WD model. Zero to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds. That’s hot-hatch quick in a family-friendly electric crossover with a cargo hold big enough for a mountain bike. Electric torque has always been the party trick, but Toyota seems intent on making it part of the brand DNA.

Standard X-MODE on the 4WD version signals genuine off-pavement aspirations. Toyota isn’t pretending this is a rock crawler, but it does want you to feel confident tackling snow, gravel, and muddy trailheads on the way to your campsite. In that sense, the Touring bridges the gap between eco-conscious commuter and light-duty adventurer.

A More Thoughtful EV

Underneath the spec-sheet bravado lies something more strategic. Toyota has doubled down on its “multi-pathway” approach to carbon neutrality—hybrids, plug-ins, hydrogen, and full EVs all coexisting rather than replacing each other overnight. The bZ4X Touring fits into that philosophy as a practical, less intimidating electric option.

The company’s new brand spirit—“to you”—is corporate speak for personalization and customer focus. But here, it translates into something tangible: more space, more range, more capability. In short, fewer compromises.

The Bigger Picture

The original bZ4X proved Toyota could build a credible electric SUV. The Touring suggests Toyota understands what buyers actually want from one. Not just silent acceleration and zero tailpipe emissions, but flexibility. The ability to haul friends, gear, and expectations without flinching.

If the first bZ4X was a toe dipped cautiously into the EV waters, the Touring feels like Toyota wading in up to its knees—still measured, still methodical, but finally having a little fun.

And in the rapidly crowding electric-SUV landscape, that combination of pragmatism and performance might be exactly what the market ordered.

Source: Toyota

NEW CARS

Bugatti W16 Mistral ‘La Perle Rare’

There are special editions, and then there are statements. The Bugatti W16 Mistral ‘La Perle Rare’ falls squarely into the latter camp—a one-off, open-top monument to excess, craftsmanship, and the end of an era defined by 16 cylinders and four turbochargers.

If the standard W16 Mistral already represents the final, roofless crescendo of Bugatti’s quad-turbo W16 symphony, this Sur Mesure commission turns the volume up on artistry. Think less “option package,” more rolling haute couture.

Pebble Beach Origins, Billionaire Intentions

The story begins on the manicured lawns of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 2023, where Jascha Straub—Bugatti’s Manager of Sur Mesure and Individualization—met the client who would commission this pearlescent ode to personal taste. The brief wasn’t about shouting louder than the other hypercars. It was about elegance. Flow. Reflection. A sculptural presence that would look just as at home under the California sun as it would under gallery lighting.

That philosophy tracks. The W16 Mistral is already a design object, its speedster proportions stretched tight over mechanical insanity. The Sur Mesure program simply gives the buyer the brush.

A Study in White and Gold

At first glance, ‘La Perle Rare’ reads as restrained—at least by Bugatti standards. Look closer, and the complexity reveals itself.

The entire car is split visually into upper and lower halves, separated by hand-executed white and gold dividing lines that required hundreds of hours of taping, masking, and paintwork. This isn’t vinyl wizardry. It’s old-school craftsmanship applied to a car capable of rearranging the horizon.

The two-tone concept evolved from an early silver proposal into something far more nuanced: two entirely bespoke whites. Up top sits a warm, gold-infused hue laced with metallic flake, shimmering subtly in direct light. Below, a softer warm white grounds the car. The effect is less contrast, more conversation—sky meeting earth, light playing off surface.

The inspiration draws from Bugatti’s signature “Vagues de Lumière” paintwork, a finish meant to capture how its hypercars bend and reflect light. Here, that idea morphs into something more elemental—a pearl-like glow befitting the name “La Perle Rare.”

Even the diamond-cut wheels get in on the theme, finished in a curated blend that mirrors the body’s gold-and-white interplay. From every angle, the car seems to radiate rather than merely reflect.

A Jewel-Box Cockpit

Inside, subtlety gives way to full commitment. All visible carbon-fiber components are painted white, transforming the cockpit into something resembling a high-end timepiece casing rather than a traditional hypercar interior.

The door panels wear alternating white and warm-gold linework that follows their concave surfaces like tailored piping on a Savile Row suit. Ambient lighting glows softly against the sculpted forms, amplifying the pearl motif after dark. Polished aluminum accents—steering wheel details, console dials, door handles—act like tiny mirrors, bouncing light around the cabin.

And then there’s the signature.

“La Perle Rare,” rendered in Straub’s own handwriting, appears stitched along the central tunnel, engraved on the bespoke engine cover, and painted beneath the rear wing. It’s a designer signing his canvas—except this canvas produces four-digit horsepower.

In a nod to heritage, the iconic Dancing Elephant—originally sculpted by Rembrandt Bugatti—appears within the gear selector casing and on the exterior body panels behind the front wheels. It’s a quiet reminder that while this car is a modern fever dream, the brand’s artistic DNA runs more than a century deep.

The Final Open-Air W16 Statement

The W16 Mistral itself already carries historic weight as the last roadgoing Bugatti to feature the brand’s legendary quad-turbocharged W16 engine. In standard form, it’s a 1600-hp, wind-in-your-hair celebration of mechanical excess. In ‘La Perle Rare’ guise, it becomes something more intimate.

Straub describes the project as a shared passion for elegance and precision—a collaboration where every line and reflection was refined until the car became a pure expression of its owner’s vision. That’s the promise of Sur Mesure: not just customization, but co-authorship.

In the end, ‘La Perle Rare’ isn’t about lap times or top-speed records. It’s about closing a chapter properly. As Bugatti pivots toward a new hybrid future, this one-off roadster stands as a luminous farewell to an engine configuration that redefined the outer limits of internal combustion.

Some cars mark the end of an era with fireworks. This one does it with a pearl-like glow—and 16 cylinders singing into the open sky.

Source: Bugatti