Alpina was established in 1965, pre-dated by its founder, Burkard Bovensiepen, using his skills to produce tuning kits for a range of car brands, including BMW. Today Alpina, a vehicle manufacturer in its own right and still a family firm, guided by Bovensiepen and his sons, Andreas and Florian - continues to enjoy close co-operation with BMW. Indeed it is the basis of its continuing success with manufacturing processes integrated into BMW's production facilities. In the late 1960s, Alpina spread its wings into touring car racing and such was its authority that in 1971, a year after winning the European Touring Car Championship, Alpina was handed the project leadership of the lightweight BMW 3.0CSL Coupé which, in competition guise, was to stamp an indelible impression on touring car racing.
The B3 3.0 is based on the 325i and the successor to the B6 2.8/2 with displacement increased to three litres producing 250bhp with ventilated front discs at the front and solid discs at the rear bringing the car to a stop. Acceleration is impressive with the 0-60 dash concluded in 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 164mph. The chassis was tweaked to improve the ride over its predecessor but ultimately the B6 2.8/2 handled exceptionally well so major changes were not deemed necessary. Between April 1993 and December 1995, a total of only 741 B3 3.0 were built making it a rare car indeed.
First registered on 2nd May, 1995, this original Alpina, not to be confused with the retro-fitted Alpina modification examples, was registered to BMW dealer, Sytner of Nottingham, and used as their demonstrator until it was purchased by its first and current owner on 25th July, 1996. During its time at Sytner, the car covered some 7,000 miles with service stamps showing the pre-delivery check carried out by Alpina in Germany; Sytner serviced the car just before its sale. Further service work is recorded in the service booklet with a further 12 service stamps at main dealer, BMW Altwood in Maidenhead, and BMW specialists Young & Pollock, also in Maidenhead.
Further documentation includes copies of the original Alpina build specification, full book pack as well as MoT test certificates from May 1998 which would have been the cars first test, along with a certificate for every year, except 2014, and a current item with no advisories valid until October 2017. The original purchase invoice along with sundry paperwork relating to the first owner's purchase is in the file and various related bills and receipts, along with four keys and two fobs. Supplied with the registration 'B3 APA' as well as a V5C document, this fine example has been confirmed by the factory as a genuine Alpina and therefore a highly collectible modern classic.