Monterey

BMW 328 Hommage Concept touches down in Monterey

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At yesterday's Legends of the Autobahn event, BMW – easily the largest marque represented on the lawn – rolled out the 328 Hommage for its first appearance on North American soil.

Built to celebrate the original 328's 75th birthday, the Hommage concept is both an advanced styling exercise and four-wheeled exploration of lightweight materials. Like its great, great grandfather, which was composed primarily of aluminum and magnesium, the Hommage is an incredibly svelte roadster, coming in at 1,720 pounds thanks to its carbon fiber body, passenger tub and wheels. Appropriately and predictably, power is provided by a 3.0-liter inline-six of undisclosed output, while a single set of gauges and a pair of contoured leather buckets make up the spartan interior.

When the concept debuted earlier this year, we weren't particularly smitten with the Hommage's styling, but in person (and alongside the 328s of yore), it's a thing to behold. The crossed-out headlamps and leather hood ties smack of nostalgia-infused kitsch, but the silver carbon fiber wheels, exposed weave, double bump rump and – yes – even the elongated kidney grilles give it a presence that's both menacing and sophisticated. Judge for yourself in the gallery of live pics above.

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