BMW
Rapp Concept
It’s
not often you get a concept car and a history lesson all in one. But the BMW
Rapp concept designed by Dejan Hristov manages to provide both.
The
roots of this concept are founded in the fact that BMW will officially
celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017.
However the man who provided the foundations of the company, German
engineer Karl Friedrich Rapp, actually started his business in 1913 – under the
name Rapp Motorenwerken GmbH. It quickly expanded, employing 370 workers by
1915. However he wasn’t in the business of making cars, instead Rapp
Motorenwerken GmbH made aircraft engines used by the German army during the
First World War. In 1917 Rapp stepped down as managing director of the company
he founded. Almost immediately it was renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, or
BMW for short.
Taking
this little snippet of history into account. Hristov has – rightly in my
opinion – decided that 2013 should also be a celebrated year for BMW. Because
without Karl Rapp and his initial company, BMW would never have come into
existence. It seems BMW’s current bosses have decided to forget the man who
made all their careers possible.
The
BMW Rapp concept is therefore a tribute to Karl Rapp and his short but pivotal
role in BMW’s history.
The
BMW Rapp concept is a two seat roadster with extremely aggressive styling.
Influence for the concept is said to come from numerous past and present BMW
models. For example the front grille is set at an angle, recalling the ‘shark
nose’ BMW’s like the 635 CSi. While the high positioning of the exhausts was
inspired by the 1937 BMW 328 Bugelfalte Roadster. The design of the hood is
styled to accentuate the engine in a tribute the the large aircraft engines
Karl Rapp designed.
This
being just one man’s digital creation, the BMW Rapp concept has no chance of
making it to production. However it’s a thoughtful homage to one of the
automotive world’s forgotten founding fathers.
