The BMW 2002 Hommage concept has an excellent new livery

BMW has unveiled a freshly liveried version of its 2002 Hommage concept at the Pebble Beach concours event in California. And, to cut right to the chase, we need this car immediately.

It’s been shod in an orange and black livery “synonymous in the minds of many motorsport fans with the triumphs of the 1970s”, according to BMW, while the wheels are now gold. Simply put, very cool indeed.

There aren’t any other changes to the 2002 concept we saw a couple of months back – the one first unveiled at Villa d’Este. It’s a nod to the original 2002 from 50 years ago, and a nod to the future of BMW’s performance cars (in an age increasingly defined by autonomous motoring).

Underneath sits the chassis of the BMW M2, while up top is its glass and roof. The rest of that spectacular bodyshape was built from scratch (in around six months) from carbonfibre. “It’s the best material,” BMW’s design chief Karim Habib told TG.com a couple of months back.

It sits low, wide and aggressively, all monster front scoop (which no doubt doubles as a snow plough), speared bonnet (just like the original 2002’s), intakes, spoilers, and that striking rear end. Then come the flared wheelarches; they’re supposed to ‘frame’ the body, referencing the bolted-on arches of the concept’s classic namesake.

Power? It bears the same drivetrain as the M2 (including that 3.0-litre turbocharged sixer), but with the exhaust from the BMW M235i Racing. Quad pipes are present, as is rear-wheel drive, of course. A standard M2 will produce 370bhp and accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.5secs, for reference.

“The 2002 Hommage represents a clear statement of how pure driving pleasure is defined in 2016,” explains BMW. Good. Now go and build it please.

Up close with BMW's 2002 Hommage concept