BMW and ALPINA have long had a history of working together to produce special BMW automobiles. Burkard Bovensiepen, son of the founder of ALPINA Business Machines and an enthusastic racing driver/engineer, began his automotive career path in 1961 by developing a dual-carburetor setup for the just-introduced BMW 1500 sedan. It was a predictive beginning: to take an already fine-performing BMW (which also just happened to be a practical sedan) and making it perform even better.
BMW itself offers a 7 Series model powered by a 438-horsepower V-12 engine, the 760Li. It is indeed a high-performance car, combining the velvety and high-torque power delivery of a 12-cylinder engine with ultimate luxury. For an unabashedly sporty interpretation of the 7 Series, ALPINA chose the path of supercharging BMW’s V-8 engine.
By selecting as the basis for the B7 the BMW 750i, with its V-8 engine and regular-wheelbase platform, ALPINA could achieve a vehicle weight some 400 pounds lighter than that of the 760Li – a benefit in terms of agility and maneuverability. Then, to attain a power target of 500 hp, ALPINA added a supercharger to the V-8 engine, which adds little weight but lots of horsepower.
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