Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Alpina

Since there were some questions asked on one of the forums where this is posted, here is a brief explanation of the "Alpina" (almost 100% likelihood of being a fake) rear garnish:

Alpina is a BMW performance house. Not unlike HSV when it originally started (before it was owned by GM Holden). There are others too, like Hartge that date back to the E21 and earlier and are still around.

That said, this car isn't actually an Alpina. It looks like some genuine or pretend Alpina parts may have found their way onto the car, but the Alpina E21 was known as the B6 or C1 not as a 323i. There were also no Alpina's released outside of Europe so any Aus delivered cars or US delivered cars claiming to be E21 Alpinas are fakes.

The body kit is BBS, wheels ROH. Most of the other parts seem to be factory fitment or aftermarket add ons (looks like the boot lip spoiler was possibly a factory option from a sports model of the E21) and the rear garnish is the only part I haven't really verified - the standard E21 rear panel is just a boring black piece of plastic - so certainly this is a nice addition, although its authenticity as a genuine Alpina part is questionable.

See the B6 below for different front bumper, and Alpina vinyls:



And normal E21 Alpina rear:



Apparantly there was a guy in Australian who for some years, was selling knock-off parts claiming them to be Alpina genuine - it wouldn't surprise me if this is where the rear garnish has originated from.

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