BMW Mille Miglia Concept, Purple Metallic

The most radical part of BMW's Mille Miglia Concept was inside. The designers restricted the cabin to exactly three materials (thin rolled stainless steel, natural cowhide and Lycra fabric) and joined them without trim, rings or frames, every component either stitched or clamped to the next. The steel, just a millimetre thick, was laser-scored and folded like origami into the dashboard and centre console, its edges locked together with laser-cut castellations, and even the logos were laser-etched into the metal rather than applied. The leather was layered, pressed into three-dimensional forms and left undyed, so it would gather a patina with age. All of it sat inside a 2006 one-off, built on Z4 M Coupé running gear to honour the 328 Touring Coupé that won the 1940 Mille Miglia.

The model nods to that cabin with a silver-finished dashboard and console, the console edged in small castellations, against orange-tan seats, door panels and steering wheel. Outside, the paint is a deep purple metallic that shifts towards violet in direct light and towards aubergine in shadow, and the same orange appears in the inserts of the gills behind the front wheels. The split windscreen, carbon-patterned mirrors, bonnet pins and the red lamp strip across the tail are all present. Built at 1:18, it sits on a grey stitched base; the black plaque reads 'Limited', one of 7.