CALL THE FASHION POLICE: FIVE CONTROVERSIALLY STYLED BMWS

BMW 850i

There wasn’t too much wrong with the car – the timing was the trouble. This V12 coupé arrived in 1989 with the felling of the Berlin Wall, revealing the poverty of East Germany, and a welling ecological consciousness that made this car seem utterly profligate.

BMW Z8

Launched in 1999, the Z8 aimed to combine ultramodern technology with the 1950s film-star glamour of the 507 roadster. A great idea, except that it also drove like it was 50 years old. These days, it is collectible, nonetheless.

BMW C1

A safer sort of scooter that car drivers could ride, the C1 was underpowered, ugly and as cumbersome as its towering superstructure of windscreen, roof and windscreen wiper implied. Released in 2000, it was short-lived, thankfully.

BMW 5 SERIES GT

GTS were originally about potent, dress-suit coupés, and then hotted-up saloons and hatches, often of appealing effectiveness. Launched in 2009, BMW’S 5 GT, on the other hand, was an oddly oversized hatchback bereft of both elegance and agility.

BMW 7 SERIES

Legendary designer Chris Bangle’s first controversial BMW design, distinguished by its double-decker boot, and the first, hard-to-fathom idrive system. Today, 16 years after the launch, it barely looks odd at all, interestingly.