Since arriving in Austria towards the end of 2020, things have been tough. There was the global pandemic, that we’ve all been living through, there was the fact that I was separated from my wife for 7 months before she joined me here, and there was the fact that I was now going to try to get my photography business off the ground in a brand-new market with next to no network. As any photographer knows, your network is your everything. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don’t have the people around you to help you realise your potential, you’ve got yourself a really tough road ahead.
Enter Patrick. Patrick is a guy who I sent an email to in my attempt to connect with people in the automotive industry here in Austria. He is one of a handful of people who actually responded to my cold emails, and the only one so far with whom I have done business. Patrick runs his own business here, helping automotive manufacturers (among others) with their press releases, press events and fleet management. It was this link for which he needed my services as a photographer. It is thanks to Patrick that I got my first paid automotive gig in my new home country. Shooting a Dacia Spring on a miserably rainy day at the end of Winter. As shitty as the circumstances of the shoot were, we managed to make the most of it, and Patrick is now definitely more than just “an industry acquaintance”. We have since worked on a few other projects together.
Enter Michael. Michael is an automotive journalist in Vienna, and a friend of Patrick’s. I met Michael in a meeting with Patrick, when we discussed the viability of a few ideas we had about getting an automotive platform of sorts off the ground. As it happens, Michael has his own set of connections, one of whom is a wonderful lady by the name of Jackie who worked (at the time) for BMW Wien. BMW Wien just so happens to be the official distribution partner for ALPINA Automobiles here in Austria. This is where things started to get really interesting.
Michael had been invited by BMW Wien to go on an “ALPINA Drive”, which was something that had been organised to get potential clients into a variety of ALPINAs, to give them a better idea of what ALPINA ownership means. It turned out, luckily for us, that there had been a few cancellations, and therefore a few open spots. The invitation was extended to Patrick and me to join what was bound to be a wonderful afternoon.
So, Friday afternoon rolled around, as did some of that wonderful Viennese sunshine. After a fairly succinct briefing, we were all handed bottles of water and the, by now obligatory, hand sanitizer, and we were then ushered through the dealership, out through the parking lot, and a across some train tracks via a pedestrian bridge into the dealer’s parking area. What greeted us as we came across that bridge was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen in a long while. ALPINAs, and a bunch of them…
B3, D3S, B5 TOURING, XB7, D5S TOURING, B8 GRAN COUPE, XD4
To those of you unfamiliar with the name ALPINA, they are effectively a “tuning company” to BMW in a similar way that AMG beefs up Mercs. They are, however, considered their own brand, and not a subdivision of BMW, and as such, they are suuuuper exclusive. To give you an idea, ALPINA makes about 1 700 cars annually, where Rolls Royce makes roughly 3 times as many in a given year. As said, exclusive.
Each ALPINA model is based on the highest-spec-non-M-model in the line-up. As an example, the B8 Gran Coupe is based on the 850i, not the M8. What makes an ALPINA an ALPINA are a series of bespoke changes to the car that up its luxury factor, better the ride quality and bump up the power. One aspect of ALPINAs that I didn’t think would appeal to me, but really does, is the fact that they stay away from the brash, shouty motor/exhaust sounds that one comes to expect from high-end cars with absurd power figures. Instead, these vehicles do their utmost to manifest restrained refinement.
Back to the drive. There were so few of us, that we were able to each take a car, sans partner, and make the most of our time-out. Once we were each seated in our vehicle of choice, we were ushered out of the parking lot in a convoy of excessive power. The front and the back of the convoy were capped with BMW employees with walkie-talkies, which helped us navigate the lengthy stretch of vehicles through the traffic, and had the added benefit of being able to scout ahead a little and give us the all clear once the roads opened up and emptied out. We headed out of Vienna to some twisty bits of tarmac, where we were able to explore some of the capabilities of these vehicles. Every half hour or so, we would be given a notification over the walkie-talkie, letting us know of an upcoming rest stop / driver change. Doing these vehicle changes was really a wonderful way to see what each of these vehicles had to offer, and to see what the strengths and weaknesses of each model in the line-up are.
I would love to give you a car by car breakdown of how these vehicles drive and what you can expect from each variant. If I’m honest with myself and with you, I just don’t have the capacity as a driver or as a writer to adequately translate what happened on those roads to digital text. If that’s what you’re after, I would suggest a stint on Google and YouTube. That should give you all of the info you could possibly want.
From my side, the takeaway was that ALPINA makes incredible vehicles, and to anyone who is looking at buying a vehicle in this league, this little brand from Buchloe is well worth considering. I am just happy that I was given this opportunity, and that I was finally able to get behind the wheel of an ALPINA. Up until that point, to me, ALPINA had only ever been a car manufacturer that Europeans and Americans get to drive, but for me would be relegated to the realm of print and the digital. On this wonderful Friday afternoon, however, I was able to turn that dream into reality, and for that I am very thankful.
This drive also turned into a bit of a “job” for ALPINA, but I will be writing another blog post about that in the future. For now, here are a few more images of that remarkable, sunny afternoon late in the Summer of 2021.
