“Belle Macchine. Italian Automotive Design at BMW”. New exhibition at the BMW Museum from June 2025 – dolce vita meets German engineering excellence.

Munich. On 7 June, the “Belle Macchine. Italian Automotive Design at BMW” exhibition will open its doors at the BMW Museum. With its famed sense for timeless aesthetics, Italy has set standards in fashion, interior and product design for as long as anyone can remember. And Italian designers have also left an enduring mark on the automotive world. This exhibition explores the influence of Italian design at BMW and provides a fascinating retrospective on the evolution of coachbuilding and body design over the past few decades.

BMW has drawn inspiration from Italian coachbuilding culture since as far back as the 1930s. Collaborations with renowned designers such as Giorgetto Giugiaro, Giovanni Michelotti and Marcello Gandini produced icons that have made a lasting impression on the brand. “BMW has harnessed Italian influences to create automotive design that blends class and elegance with modern forms and functionality. The combination of Italian design and German engineering excellence was a key driver of BMW’s growth into a premium manufacturer,” explain curators Anna Schleypen and Klaus-Anton Altenbuchner. The exhibition illustrates this development with a variety of design sketches from the BMW Design Archive, a selection of exhibits and 23 historic vehicles, and provides a captivating insight into the design history of BMW.

A tour of the exhibition
“Belle Macchine. Italian Automotive Design at BMW” extends over five platforms and ramps within the BMW Museum’s iconic “Bowl”. It starts with a general introduction into the world of Italian design, citing examples of the country’s endeavours in the fields of fashion and product design. The impact of noted Italian studios on the design of bodies for BMW vehicles occupies much of the exhibition space. For example, the BMW Garmisch concept car penned by Marcello Gandini represents the essence of Italian style and played a major role in the design of the original BMW 3 Series and 5 Series of the 1970s. As is clear from the numerous production cars on display, such as the popular BMW 1800 TI/SA, the stylistic influence of Italian designers was leveraged to successful effect by a large number of models. BMW’s acquisition of fellow carmaker Glas is also brought under the spotlight with a three-strong line-up including the BMW 3000 V8, affectionately known as the “Glaserati”. The exhibition continues with a showcase of perfectly formed one-offs like the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé, BMW 2800 GTS Frua and BMW Nazca M12 designed by Fabrizio Giugiaro. These models were commissioned by the company to serve as sources of creative inspiration or put forward by the Italian designers themselves to ensure they were part of the conversation when BMW was scouting for partners. 

On the ramps between the platforms, visitors are taken on a visual road-trip with stop-offs including the legendary Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como – a beauty contest for historic vehicles of unparalleled tradition. The design drawings on show here provide further evidence of the artistic signature of Italian designers. The exhibition finishes on a high with a model of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse – the modern successor to the Italian-flavoured original Neue Klasse of yesteryear – and special study vehicles such as the BMW M1 Hommage. These cars see BMW recognising the achievements of the Italian designers of the time and re-interpreting its own design history as a source of inspiration for its latest creations.

In another visual highlight, the exhibition area is enveloped in a 360-degree display – projected onto the walls of the “Bowl” – that showcases the work of Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, who studied for a time in Munich.