Back in the early 90s BMW offered an M version of the E31 8 series called the 850CSi. It featured the only naturally aspirated V12 the infamous M GmbH ever released. ALPINA then went ahead and 'tuned' that engine to 416hp at 5.7L displacement.
Not only does the engine have more output in this car it also generates much more heat in the engine bay which is either way much more compact than the 7 series bay which the engine usually occupies. So the boys at Alpina pulled a world's first and fitted the hood with carbon fibre to help contain the heat. This was the first production car to feature this material in the world.
That wasn't enough though so they cut a few sills into the hood on both sides to help heat ventilate out of the engine bay. The problem was that at high RPMs the fuel rails would begin to boil the fuel and interrupt the combustion. The solution was a small NACA duct in the center which shoveled air right onto the rails and cooled them down enough so that the fuel would stay at a reasonable temperature.
The base car (850CSi) was one of the shortest production runs in BMW history and put out a mere 1,510 units. Only 57 of those ended up as B12 5.7s. 7 of those were right hand drive cars, 2 of the 7 featured a 6 speed manual with the rest sporting the shift-tronic automatic gearbox.
The car also features all wheel steering with the rear wheels turning with (not against) the front axle to help fast lane changing at high speed. The dry weight was around 4,400lbs so it is not a light car by any means. The styling is timeless to this day and it is probably one of the most exclusive, most expensive and most exotic cars with a BMW base ever assembled. On top of all of that it also has a playful and rare design feature that is usually reserved for the Italian thoroughbreds - pop up headlights:
The interior is very cockpit like and has a downward sloping center console with a dash extension housing the dials and vents all arranged around the driver in typical BMW fashion and accentuated with Alpina's signature wood and leather as well as the famous blue instrument cluster:
The engine block of the S70B56 base engine (S for sport, all M engines start with an S, 70 is the engine number and B designates bore or 'Bohrung' with the 56 representing 5.6L displacement) is also the basis for the McLaren F1 engine. McLaren had the M GmbH build a special derivative with 6.1L displacement dubbed the S70/2 so this Alpina motor sits betwen the 850CSi and the McLaren F1 engine.
Hail to the epic shark nosed, pillarless supercoupe that no one ever heard of.