BMW unveiled a unique concept car at the Concours d’Elegance Villa d’Este over the weekend, paying tribute to one of Italy’s most influential car designers. The retro looking car is the recreation of the BMW Garmisch, a classic concept designed by Marcello Gandini for Bertone once debuted at Geneva Motor Show in 1970 but disappeared right after.

It’s unclear how the original Garmisch went missing and only a small selection of black and white period photos are left in the BMW archive, but it made the recreation work a very difficult task. Hence, BMW had Marcello Gandini himself on board to verify every little detail of the concept.

From the light champagne metallic body paint to the interior materials and trim, the new car stays true to the original as much as possible. Following Gandini’s clean yet dramatic style, the Garmisch has a vertical and almost angular rendition of BMW’s signature kidney grille paired with square glass-covered headlights. The louvres on the C-pillars are more commonly found on sports cars, while the honeycomb-patterned mesh cover for the rear window is a distinctive feature penned by Gandini. Perhaps it is the interior that emphasizes more on the car’s root: the unusual vertical radio on the centre console, the fold-out mirror for passenger and the rather structural steering wheel are things that we won’t be seeing on any recent models.