Number of cylinders: 6
Service history: Present

Buchloe. A name that means nothing to the average car enthusiast, but which in certain circles is spoken in a whisper, as if it were a secret handshake. There, in that quiet Bavarian town, Burkard Bovensiepen sat tinkering with BMWs that the factory in Munich really ought to have built itself. Not a tuner in the vulgar sense. Alpina was, and is, a marque in its own right. Its own type approval, its own production number, its own philosophy. Where AMG made noise and shouted, Alpina did precisely the opposite: whisper, and then suddenly be faster than everyone else.

I've always had a soft spot for that understatement. A car that looks like a tidy 3 Series, the sort your solicitor drives to the office, but which, under the bonnet, has something else entirely in mind. The stripe set along the flanks, the gold-thread badge, those twenty-spoke Alpina wheels. If you know, you know. And if you don't, you assume there's an elderly gentleman in a hat behind the wheel. Exactly as intended.

Right, back to the car standing here now, waiting for someone who understands what it is. The Alpina B6 3.5, built on the E30. The M version that BMW itself never dared to make. Where the M3 got a four-cylinder touring engine for the racing, Alpina did something that still makes enthusiasts go weak at the knees: they crammed their own further-developed 3.5-litre straight-six into that compact body. 260 hp, manual, and a sound you'll get nowhere else. A straight-six that doesn't scream but sings, with that characteristic long, drawn-out reach to the top end that the whole world adores and that these days only survives in museum brochures.

This example carries ALPINA production number 118. For the record: that means something. Every Alpina of that era received its own number, its own plate, its own place in the production book in Buchloe. So this is no BMW-wannabe replica with a few stickers slapped on, but the real thing, complete with the papers to prove it.

And what papers. This B6 has a service booklet many a collector would kill for. The journey begins on 24 March 1987 with the complimentary handover inspection at Alpina itself in Buchloe. After that, a life in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, all neatly stamped: Max Heidegger in Triesen, L. Klaus in Wil, garages in Weinfelden, Ebikon, Alpnach. Running-in checks, Inspection I, Inspection II, annual checks, engine oil services. For nearly three decades, stamped by official BMW representatives in the country that invented precision. In 2013 it came to the Netherlands, where two private enthusiasts cherished it before it found its way to us.

What I've always liked about Swiss history: those people drive their cars as if someone's watching. Mountain passes, immaculately maintained, and a culture in which you don't treat an expensive car with a shrug. This B6 spent the majority of its life there, and you can tell from the thickness of the stack of stamps.

Colour: Alpina Grün Metallic. Green, yes, but not just any green. A deep, restrained metallic green that looks almost dark in one light and suddenly comes alive in the sun. The tyres are sized to match: 205 front, 225 rear, on the distinctive 16-inch wheels. Four seats, leather and cloth combined, and that glorious eighties dashboard where everything still had a button instead of a menu.

Admittedly, it isn't new. This car is nearly forty and has a life behind it, so expect the usual upkeep a classic of this calibre deserves. Engine oil, brake fluid, the familiar points. But that's precisely the pact you strike when you buy something like this: in return you get a piece of automotive history they'll never make again. There are still plenty of E30s about. M3s are getting rarer. But a genuine, numbered Alpina B6 3.5 with this file? You'll rarely come across one before a collector with a chequebook has sprinted past.

For those who understand that the finest speed is the speed nobody sees coming.

Special features
• Genuine ALPINA B6 3.5 on E30 base, production number 118
• Further-developed 3.5-litre straight-six, 260 hp
• Manual gearbox, drive as it should be
• Alpina Grün Metallic, distinctive 16-inch Alpina wheels
• Extensively stamped service booklet from handover in Buchloe (1987)
• Largely Swiss/Liechtenstein service history with official BMW representatives
• In the Netherlands since 2013, cherished by private enthusiasts
• Leather/cloth upholstery, eighties interior with real buttons
• 4 seats, 2-door coupé
• Rare enthusiast's and collector's car with complete file

Between two mountain passes and a stack of Swiss stamps,
Nick Slinger

STEP 2 IN SHOWROOM | HooG Selections

The Alpina B6 1987 is now in our showroom in Katwijk - € 134.950. The full presentation is complete: the cover is off and the car can be viewed right away.

At HooG Selections exclusively carefully selected classic vehicles, fully documented:
✔ Over 75 professional photos
✔ Fully scanned service history
✔ Official Carfax vehicle report
✔ Paint thickness report per body panel
✔ Complete original documentation

Visit our 6,000 m² showroom in Katwijk or view everything at:
www.hoogselections.nl