17 February 2020

The comments on Instagram give the game away. You can’t really get enough of the images featuring the BMW 525 finished in Inka Orange driving through darkened Europe on a wintry road trip. Some 12 000 kilometres were covered over a period of two months, when the classic car was in the hands of a different driver (and photographer) every week. This automobile acted as a beacon illuminating all the places it passed through with its heart-warming charisma. @kukulaura from Overath, @dennisnoten in Belgium (with a diversion to Zolder!) or @Shareenqueen in the Black Forest – they all choreographed images of the Inka anew and invariably created exciting pictures. @kenozache was on the road in Westphalia until yesterday and plans to arrive at BMW Group Classic in Munich today. This news will be music to the ears of every Inka fan. There’s a break in proceedings now. Inka has to undergo an inspection with the TÜV German Technical Inspectorate, and before that there’s going to be a thorough service and makeover in the workshop.

People had become accustomed to thinking of the MINI “Clubman” and the “Estate” in the same breath. Although the inaugural Clubman presented in 1969 was also supplied in the longer version, the real issue was a bigger front end – a new “face” – and better equipment. Effectively, it was an upgraded version of the classic Mini, which continued to be produced in parallel. The highlight of the series was the Mini 1275 GT, a real “runner” packing 59 hp. But as is sometimes the case with upgrades that fail to attain the popularity of their predecessor, the Clubman was discontinued in 1982, while the original that was ten years its senior lived a charmed “life” for another 18 years. Perhaps the reason was that its face was admittedly less up-to-date but more friendly?

The technique is called “morphing”, with images appearing to meld into each other. A lovingly animated trip down memory lane can now be viewed on Instagram, reflecting on the “countenances” of BMW models. The sequence in fact goes back in time: from the BMW 750Li, the first post-war German 12-cylinder model launched in 1987, then the BMW M1, the BMW 507, the BMW Isetta and the BMW 328 right back to the BMW 303, the first BMW with an inline six-cylinder engine and typical twin-kidney radiator grille. It makes a great show to look at, and the work carried out by the artists on the computer was not by any means easy. After all, this was all about distinctive and characterful countenances.

Organising a weekend outing doesn’t get any easier as children get older. We like to think that a trip to BMW in Munich will be a sure-fire success. For example, the monthly Family Sunday (20 euros for the entire family) held at the BMW Museum: Activities on 23 February will focus on design and colour. Appropriate clothes should be worn for the open Airbrush Workshop! The workshops in the BMW Group Junior Programme are ideal for birthday parties and class field trips. The programmes on offer cover design, technology and future issues about mobility, always exciting and designed with an educational focus.