BMW never made Inka Orange E24s... so Kith has
Latest one-offs from Ronnie Fieg celebrate the 70s in unmistakeable fashion
Just last weekend, we were celebrating all that was great about cars of the '70s, and now look: Ronnie Fieg, CEO of the Kith fashion brand, BMW aficionado and all-round cool dude, is celebrating the era as well. Fieg has been a busy man of late, collaborating with BMW on this fascinating (and imminent) X5 project as well as the coupe restorations you see here.
Unsurprisingly for a man famous for his clothing, colour is a big deal to Ronnie Fieg. Previous Monterey exhibitions have been all about famous BMW paints like Cinnabar Red or Techno Violet; Kith Vitality Green is actually a BMW limited edition colour. This time around Inka Orange is the focus, with both of these epic restorations - an E9 3.0 CSI and E24 M635 CSI - taking pride of place at BMW’s Pebble Beach presence this year.
And if you’re thinking that orange looks unfamiliar on a 6 Series, that’s because it is: Inka Orange was never offered on this generation. Which, with all due respect to the quality of this restoration - you could eat your breakfast burrito out of that engine bay - is easy to understand. What’s effortlessly cool on the 70s’ CSI isn’t quite so cohesive on the later BMW. Still, it at least ensures proper one-off status for the E24, and you’ve really got to be going some to be talked about at Monterey this week. An Inka Orange sharknose 6 Series ought to do that. For this afternoon, at least.
The interiors of both are as close to identical as is possible, with lovely biscuit leather and carpet throughout. It shouldn’t work with orange, and yet somehow it does. Especially for the old one. There’s more to these restorations than just the fun of it, too, as they preview what’s coming from upcoming garments. Inka Orange is going to be the theme of Kith for BMW 2026, a clothing range we can expect to see soon. And which will probably cost as much as a restored classic coupe…
Elsewhere this week, BMW will use Car Week to host a wealth of North American debuts. So the M Concept Neue Klasse first seen at Le Mans will be there, as will the Vision BMW Alpina originally shown at Villa D’Este. On top of a 40 years of M3 celebration, the new CS Handschalter, and a whole load of racing cars. BMW fans over there are in for a treat, that’s for sure.
And for BMW fans over here - E9 fans specifically, of which there must be plenty - don’t forget that there’s a wonderful 3.0 CSL currently live on PH Auctions. And Taiga Green might look even better than Inka Orange…
The idiots designing the current (almost uniformly hideous) BMWs should be made to sit in a room with pictures of classic models showing on a big screen for about six months or so until the principles of elegant design are established in what passes for grey matter therein.
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