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Interview with Adrian van Hooydonk, head of design at BMW
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Head of design at BMW, Adrian van Hooydonk opens up to ZigWheels Editor-in-Chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala, at the 2012 Concorso d'Eleganza and speaks candidly about BMW's design philosophy and the Z4 Zagato Concept
Adil Jal Darukhanawala (AJD): Big departure for doing such a vehicle for BMW...
Adrian van Hooydonk (AVH): Maybe... it’s been a while since BMW has worked with Italian Carrozzerias. Some of our most famous cars were done by Carrozzeria Touring – the Mille Miglia Roadster. There is a little history with Michelotti and a little bit of history with Guigiaro. But it’s been a while. And I feel that it’s just a sign of strength of the brand. We’re doing quite well as a company, and I think it’s also time to give something back to the car world as a whole. An event like this is of course nice to look at all the classic cars, but I believe that we have a very good generation of car designers right now, and we want to contribute. A car like this is a one off in the true tradition of the Concorso d'Eleganza and in 50 years from now, for example, this is a car that will show up. If we don’t do projects like this, what would people look at 50 years from now. The 3-Series, i think, is a beautiful car, but we make quite a lot of them and that is probably not what will be seen at this kind of events. So we need to do something special like this.
AJD: Tell me one thing, you’re going on to new markets – India, where I come from, is a big market. How do you think the aesthetics of the car appeal to people in emerging markets which are new to BMW?
AVH: I think now the world is a very connected place. So from what I know, I travel quite a lot and wherever I go, people seem to know BMW quite well. Sometimes I go to countries and people know me, even if I’ve never been there.
AJD: (laughs) It’s like James Bond. You’re reputation precedes you.
AVH: (laughs) Maybe... So I think a combination like this is the icing on the cake. It is the haute couture of car design and it doesn’t necessarily have to influence the design we do. We have a very strong design team ourselves and I think we know where we’re going. But like I said, something like this has to do with the history of the Carrozzeria, which we are actually able to support in this manner.
AJD: Do you think this car has a production future, or will you let it be just a Carrozzeria one-off, with an aim for Concorso 50 years from now?
AVH: I don’t really know the answer to that right now. We just launched the car today and we’re gauging the reactions. But for me, it would be a great story if we make 500 or 1000 of these cars, because then it will not just be a one-off. It’ll still be very rare. Even though BMW has over 3000 dealerships around the world, it will be a car which is a very rare sight around the world, but it would still be a car that people would drive. If it remains a one-off, then it goes into the museum, which this one probably will do. But cars are made to be driven and I know this one drives well.
AJD: And it sounds beautiful...
AVH: Thank you...
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rishikesh raveendran
i want to get the contact number of adrian van hooydonk the BMW designer by rishikesh raveendran
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