ALPINA'S GREATEST HITS

His expert insight (and some blind prejudice) has enabled Richard Lane to pick these as the most special, seminal Alpinas

-  Richard Lane

Alpina occasionally undertakes development work for the BMW mothership, with projects ranging from the original X5 to the V8 for the last-generation M6 GT3. By and large, though, it expands its small but targeted engineering resources on making its own cars as good as they can be.

Real innovations in an engine, suspension, and driveline technologies have been part and parcel of Alpina's 57 years in existence and one of the most intriguing aspects of its new relationship with BMW will be how those resources will manifest in the years to come. For now, though, here are some of the marque's seminal models, with honourable mentions, also going to the E28-based B9 3.5 and E31-based B12 5.7.

3.0CSL 1971 £350,000-PLUS (NOW)

Some within Alpina describe the 1972 founding of BMW's M division as the mere 'sales instrument' for the lightweight racer that Alpina founder Burkard Bovensiepen and his team developed for the European Touring Car Championship. That's understandable. With the 3.0 CSL, BMW homologated Alpina's extreme package for the beefcake 2800 CS. The spec was confirmed in 1971, well before the 3.0 CSL was born, with modifications saving 215kg. Commercial reasons stopped Alpina alone from supplying the 1000 homologation cars, with M latterly stepping in. If you can find an Alpina 3.0 CSL, you've done well: of the 1265 cars BMW built, just 13 returned to Buchloe for further changes.

B62.81978-1981 £45,000-£60,000