BMW X4 

 

BMW X4, the latest player in BMW's continued styling homage to the 1979 American Motors lineup. This time, the Germans have really nailed their tribute to the AMC Spirit. The Spirit was an attempt to bring dawn-of-the-'70s hardware into the 1980s. In other words, it was new style with old substance.

BMW has flipped that around to be old style with new substance. You see, there'll be plenty for BMW to crow about with the X4, which they're still calling a concept with a nudge and a wink. It'll have iDrive, xDrive, Start/Stop, turbos and sixes and fours, oh my. But most of all, it'll squeeze itself into a tiny niche in the market that BMW thinks is underserved.

It must work, because BMW keeps inventing new models and counting their piles of ducats. Look for the X4 to be unveiled at the upcoming Shanghai auto show, where this less-practical, more-fastback version of the X3 is likely to set plenty of mid-level manager's hearts aflutter.