The new 205mph B8 GT could be the last true Alpina

The end is nigh, people. As announced back in 2022, after 31 December 2025 the Alpina lineup will be discontinued, and the legendary tuner will officially become part of the good ship BMW. But it would seem that Alpina wants to go out with a bang, because it has just unveiled one of its most powerful models ever. Yep, welcome to the BMW Alpina B8 GT.

Based on the four-door 8 Series Gran Coupe, just 99 of these special editions will be built as a tribute to Burkard Bovensiepen – the man who founded Alpina way back in 1965. Does that homage and the headline power figure mean this is the last true Alpina before it’s enveloped by BMW? Quite possibly.

You want to know exactly how much power it has. Well, the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 is the same unit as found in the Alpina B5 GT, meaning it gets 625bhp and a huge 627lb ft of torque. To reach that figure there’s two new air boxes, a flash of the ECU, increased turbo boost pressure and a de-throttled air intake. Oh, and there’s an Alpina sports exhaust system so that it can shout about its new free-breathing setup.

As a result, the B8 GT will sprint from 0-62mph in just 3.3 seconds and will hit a top speed of 205mph. Feels... sufficient. The software of the ZF eight-speed auto box has been adapted to cope, and there’s a revised launch control to fire this business express off the line. There’s also an optimised transfer case which means more of the torque heads to the rear wheels. Handy for business-spec skids.

The suspension has been refined too and Alpina promises a greater differentiation between Comfort, Sport and Sport+ than you’ll find in the standard BMW.

Looks different to the standard 8 Series Gran Coupe too, of course. You get new air intakes in the front grille and little dive planes just ahead of the front wheels. There’s a more pronounced carbon diffuser, but overall it’s all very classy, isn’t it? Helped by those classic 21in Alpina forged wheels, which incidentally hide a standard Alpina-spec high-performance brake system.

For 20 of the 99 cars, there will also be the option of two-tone paint with Alpina Blue or Alpina Green being paired with a ‘Black Sapphire’ bootlid, roof and bonnet. If you don’t go for that you get a choice of seven different paint finishes. ‘Purple Silk’ sounds absolutely glorious if you ask us. Plus, every buyer of a B8 GT will be given a special Carl F. Bucherer 43mm watch with a blue dial, black leather strap, Alpina logos and a reference to the classic wheel on the reverse.

Back to the car. The interior features the signature of Burkard Bovensiepen on the front seat backrests and is trimmed in full leather with Alcantara seat panels and walnut wood trim. Lovely. There’s contrast stitching too, plus aluminium shift paddles and an Alcantara headliner. Plenty of special edition production plaques around, too.

Wonderful thing, no? The only slight hiccup is the price. There’s no easy way of saying this – it’s €225,000 (around £190,000). Still, if it is the very last Alpina before the company merges into BMW, it could be a proper piece of history.