BMW 328 Hommage makes first U.S. appearance at Pebble Beach

BMW's celebration of the 75th anniversary of the BMW 328 continued Friday at the Legends of the Autobahn car show in Carmel, Calif., with the North American debut of the BMW 328 Hommage Concept. The car will also be on display at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on Saturday and at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday.

The 328 Homage concept was created in honor of the 75th anniversary of the BMW 328. In a press release, BMW says, “The 328 was the embodiment of what the BMW brand still stands for today--dynamics, aesthetics and a high level of innovation.”

The original 328 was known for its lightweight design, powerful inline six-cylinder engine and responsive handling. The Hommage is the modern embodiment of those attributes. With its use of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic, the Hommage is an example of what lightweight construction looks like today.

Keeping with the theme of leading edge technology, the instrument panel is fitted with two iPhones in special holders, which offer additional display functions for the driver and co-driver. The iPhones function as stopwatches for measuring lap times as well as digital roadbooks. Using two iPhones, both functions can be operated at the same time.

Under the hood of the Hommage is BMW's most powerful inline six-cylinder engine, just like in the 328 some 75 years ago.

The Monterey Week is packed with car shows, vintage racing and car auctions. Autoweek will be there providing streaming photo galleries and live coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, historic racing at Laguna Seca, the Monterey car auctions and much more. Go to autoweek.com/monterey for complete coverage and live updates.

By Roger Hart