2011 BMW Alpina B7
A different name brings an executive grand-tourer.
In every car category,
one can call a specific car
- or at least a trim of a car
- ordinary. Talk about a
Honda Civic, and it’s
arguable that the ordinary
one could be the LX while
the cool one is the Si or
Type-R. Let’s go a little
higher. In the midsize
family sedan category,
the Toyota Camry is
essentially ordinary. A
cooler alternative for
petrolheads could be a
Chevrolet Malibu 2.0L
Turbo, simply due to the
European-esque 155
MPH (250 km/h) top
speed. (Just don’t be
that guy caught doing
140 MPH in one on a
Canadian highway, as
one person knows.) But
the entire midsize family
sedan segment is
ordinary anyway, so
here’s a half-decent
example of midsize
luxury. The Germans
build some fine sedans,
with the E-Class and 5
Series quickly coming to
mind. But face it: the
E350 4Matic is somewhat
ordinary, especially when
compared to an E63
AMG S Wagon. I’ll make
a huge price jump to the
Lamborghini
Aventador. It’s an
amazing bull that I would
love to look at
someday. But
unfortuna tely, the regular
Aventador can seem
ordinary, especially in
London where DMC,
Armytrix, and Oakley
Design tuned bulls can
easily steal the
show. Dropping down in
price and wildness, the
flagship luxury field has
some amazing sedans
that can stay amazing
even after a decade. But
Mercedes-Benz and Audi
choose to make the
‘ordinary’ flagships cooler
with AMG and
RennSport. BMW,
however, finds their M