Bilenkin will turn a BMW M3 into an awesome retro ride
This Russian car company will transform a modern Bimmer into something decidedly more old-school without losing any modern creature comforts.
If you want a classic car, it's pretty easy to pick one up, but there are many undesirable elements involved in owning a piece of automotive history. It won't crash very well, it's probably got some rust, and trying to retrofit modern creature comforts can be difficult at best. Russian company Bilenkin wants to bypass those problems by creating old-school metal using new-school underpinnings, and the Vintage is the realization of that dream.
It's hard to even tell that there's a modern car hiding under the Vintage's gorgeous sheet metal, but there is. Bilenkin starts out with an E92-generation (2007-2013) BMW M3 coupe, and while many of the car's safety systems are left intact, not much else is. Roof shape aside, there exist zero hints that this exterior isn't something from the 1960s. Yet, there's still a 400-horsepower, eight-cylinder engine hiding under the hood.
The Bilenkin Vintage's interior can only be described as stunning. Once again, a complete overhaul leaves the car's innards looking radically different. The company utilizes leather, stainless steel, gemstones and other high-end materials to create a fresh take on old-school style. (Who doesn't want paisley seats, shag carpeting and a crystal shift knob?) The company will add gold and diamonds to match your taste, as well. All of a sudden, it makes sense that this car debuted at the Dubai Motor Show last month.
The Bilenkin Vintage is a retro Russian ride with BMW M3 underpinnings (pictures)
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Discerning eyes will note that the interior loses none of its modern technology in the process of this revamp. BMW's iDrive infotainment system is tucked into the dashboard, and even though the center stack is completely different, it still contains switches for the seat heaters, and there's also a slot for BMW's wireless key fob. Bilenkin has managed to make modern look retro, which is no small task.
Naturally, there's no small price tag involved, either. Bilenkin is asking €130,000 (directly converted, about $138,000, £91,700 or AU$189,000) to put a Vintage in your driveway. There's no word whether or not that includes the price of the donor BMW, but considering that similar modern-vintage offerings (like Singer's Porsche 911) cost at least twice this much, it's a pretty amazing bargain for something this attractive.