For that past few years BMW has been incessantly reminiscing about the good old days, with the result being the production of a couple of CSL Hommage concepts. Now please welcome the third one, also revealed at Villa d’Este, the new BMW 2002 Hommage concept.

While the previous model celebrated the rather high-brow CSL models of the yesteryear, BMW 2002 Hommage pays tribute in its fiftieth year to a model that brought rear-drive, high performance motoring to the masses. The original 2002 Turbo is still hailed as one of the best compact driver’s cars of all time and good examples of it are fetching big bucks in auctions all over the world.

But there is more to BMW 2002 Hommage than just celebrating past glory. This concept also imagines what a modern-day 2002 would look like. The idea itself is brilliant, but a modern 2002 would have to feature BMW’s current design language, and as you can see that is not such a good thing. The designers have been adamant the car should have a ‘shark nose’ front end and that it should have ridiculously large fenders with 20 inch rims.

To be honest with you the current M235i is more of an homage to the 2002 than this concept. It does have some cool highlights though, such as Space Race Metal paintwork and gold-coloured brake callipers bearing the M logo.

“Exactly 50 years ago, the 02 range kick-started an era of success for BMW. This compact coupe is one of the vehicles which made the brand what it is today,” explains Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design. “The 2002 sat at the top of the range and was the first series-produced car anywhere in Europe to come with turbo technology. That set the seal on the coupe as a genuine sports car. At the same time, the 2002 turbo was at the technological vanguard of engine development at BMW. The BMW 2002 Hommage is our way of raising a glass to all these achievements.”