Collaborations between automakers usually result in some of the most interesting and exciting cars. So what if, instead of competing, BMW and Mercedes joined forces to create something like this 1990 Alpina B650 Turbo? That’s right, an Alpina Mercedes.
BMW and Mercedes are rivals, locked in a battle over who can make the best expensive luxury vehicles. They’ve basically never collaborated on anything, especially not a car. In 2019, they signed a partnership to jointly develop autonomous driving tech, but even that was canceled a year later.
Right now, competition is especially strong in the performance SUV and EV segments. But back about three decades ago, it was all about sedans and sports cars with large engines that could blast down the autobahn. And that’s where this fictional Alpina Mercedes gets inserted.
The 1990 Alpina B650 Turbo is a fantasy car, a 3D combination created by the talented rendering artist Abimelec Arellano (@abimelecdesign), who also made an Alpina Supra recently. And to make it even more believable, he even created a faux Car & Driver magazine cover inserting the B650 into an era before smartphones and influences. It’s the era of Knight Rider and Miami Vice.
The Alpina B650 is obviously based on one of the best-looking Mercedes coupes of all time, the 560SEC. Now, this car already has an exotic version by Koenig, of which about 100 were made. However, the Alpina touch has undeniable appeal.
The stand-out features are the wheels, which many people prefer to standard BMW alloys. That multi-spoke design with the hidden air just screams “German, classic, over-engineered.”/g
And then there’s the body kit. Noted BMW tuner Alpina has a certain Bavarian way of doing things. The fender flares, chin spoiler, and trunk wing all give the 560SEC that subtle tuned look.
As for the color scheme, it’s pretty much the same as any 1990 Alpina, like the B6, B10, or B12. The gold pinstriping is spot-on. However, this shade of metallic blue seems much lighter than the official Mauritus Blue.
And all this should have been yours for $130,000, which doesn’t sound like a lot today. But back in 1990, the fictional Alpina Mercedes would have cost as much as a Ferrari Testarossa, which sounds overpriced until you hear about the engine.
Mercedes always put the biggest German engines into its coupes, and Alpina liked to bore and stroke everything they touched. So the custom 560SEC is supposed to have a twin-turbocharged 6.5-liter V8, amazing technology for that era when forced induction wasn’t common. Can you imagine a car with Mercedes badges, but tuned in Bavaria and making about 800 horsepower? Japanese collectors would go nuts, and cartel bosses would horde dozens of them in their mansions.
