As Jason mentioned yesterday, the Autopian’s partner company Galpin Motors has begun a relationship with the famous German design and customizing firm, bb-Auto. Founded by Ranier Buchmann in 1973, bb-Auto has a great history of innovations and is likely best known for their work on Porsches and Mercedes.
In stock form, these tend to be cars that I admire for their understated presence, so you can imagine that I’m a bit ambivalent about heavily modified examples. However, the cars that were customized by Buchmann in the seventies and eighties are a different story. With most custom creations of this ilk, you can almost smell the fiberglass fumes from just looking at the pictures of them. On the other hand, the cars from bb-Auto were typically well-resolved enough that you’d be forgiven for mistaking them for factory specials.
Consider, for example, the “slantnose” 911 conversions of the 80s from other aftermarket practitioners that seemed painfully kit-car like, not to mention the fact that a 911 just looks all wrong without visible lights. Buchmann’s spin on the slantnose concept solved that issue by installing actual 928 exposed headlamps into handcrafted steel fenders.
A side scoop sounds like a gaudy addition until you see how Buchmann formed the thing rather seamlessly into the flanks of the car. Ah, and don’t get me started on those deep-dish bb-Auto wheels; the whole thing looks at once aggressive while still restrained, like Schwarzenegger of thirty years ago in a tailored suit.
A notchbacked 928 with T-tops doesn’t sound like a great idea on paper, but the end result appears to be something that actually left the Porsche factory. Check out the stereo components sideways on the “T” bar facing the driver; bb-Auto was great at doing over-the-top but making it look so integrated.
Buchmann’s work with this Mercedes 500SEC seems like a sort of restrained AMG treatment until you notice some odd seam lines. Dear Lord: it’s a retractable hardtop decades before that became a thing. Look at how the “C” pillars drop down into the sides while the roof slides back to nest in the trunk lid spoiler.
As intriguing as this custom work on high-end cars was, the Autopian staff seemed most intrigued by the work bb-Auto did on more run-of-the-mill cars. Volkswagens seemed to get the lion’s share of Buchmann’s work, including these gumdrop-colored Golfs. The photo below makes it look like they were dredged from the sea:
Check out this sub-Golf-sized Polo with wheel flares and custom interior covered in special fabric, dozens of speakers, and a digital gauge cluster (another bb-Auto innovation):
With Galpin’s current tie-in to bb-Auto, is it possible that we could see some everyman cars getting this treatment? We have to take a look, right?
It’s Not Like You Can Make A Pinto Worse
If Galpin offered such custom options for cars bought by K-Mart shoppers versus those who visit the Gucci store, it wouldn’t be the first time by any means. In the early seventies, Galpin Ford created several specially modified versions of everyday Ford products, fully street-legal and covered-by-warranty custom cars for the Average Joe to enjoy.
The Mustang II was a sales hit when released in 1974, but many enthusiasts were turned off by what they saw as an affront to the legacy of this pony car. One rather objectional part of the Mustang II might have been the rather upright and almost formal front-end treatment. Galpin offered a solution in the form of a softly angled new fiberglass nose cone that still used the factory bumper and even repositioned the OEM turn signals from the original grille.
Named the “Mustang Major,” most of the unknown number sold were also complimented by custom paint treatments for a semi-bespoke look that made you stand out from the 400,000 other Mustang IIs sold in the first year. It also appears that Galpin only offered these as completed cars; you couldn’t just buy the nose parts and build your own questionable-quality conversion.
Controversial and lowly as the Pinto might seem now, it was a strong seller; Galpin’s 1974 “Pinto Pacer” (before AMC used the name) gave this ubiquitous compact a unique look with a sloping front end treatment that covered the original grille like a knight’s helmet and even had translucent amber trim for the existing turn signals to shine through.
Whether you like this redesign or not, there were certainly fans of this restyle in Dearborn. Three years later, the factory facelifted nose of 1977 bore a striking resemblance to the Galpin nose cone. Sure, it could have been coincidence, but…
With Galpin’s current tie-in to bb-Auto, as well as their legacy of high-quality mods to high-production cars, can you imagine the retro-cool modifications that could be done to some of Dearborn’s finest offerings?
Buchmann and Boeckmann
Back in the day, Pintos and Mustang IIs drove off of Galpin’s lot in record numbers. What cars are equivalent smashes today? Almost certainly the Ford Maverick truck-for-non-truck-people is tops on the list, so we’ll apply some quasi-retro bb-Auto treatment to that sales juggernaut.
Jason in particular has never been much of a fan of the Maverick’s front end; I think he feels that it’s too “trucklike” and even appears to some degree like two separate, only partially related grills above one another. We’ll ditch the existing nose and add a new, more Mustang-like one that could even use headlamp units from the Galpin body shop parts department. Naturally, we’ll lower the thing to within inches of the pavement, add ground effects, fender flares, and those delicious deep-dish bb-Auto wheels.
The rails along the side of the bed that wrap over the roof can serve another purpose: I can see adding removable or sliding glass roof panels that could nest into the angled part of the rails.
Covered taillight sides, a new rear pan with more Mustang bits, and a modified tailgate complete the look in back. My guess is the that interior would feature many, many speakers and integrated tablet holders for the rear seat passengers. You can see it’s a big change from the stock Maverick:
How about some higher-end but still accessible models? Here I’ve taken a 2024 Lincoln Aviator and done the full bb-Auto cosmetic surgery:
Similar work in back with thinner taillights and a new bumper and diffuser that blend into the flares for the enormous wheels and tires:
Now dubbed the “bb-Auto Altair”, you can barely recognize the original car. The idea is to make something that looks almost entirely all-new and tailored to the buyer’s preferences, and that buyer doesn’t necessarily have to be a hedge fund manager.
BB 4 U N Me?
In the malaise era, Porsche didn’t offer a targa-topped Turbo, and there was no big Benz convertible. Buchmann’s bb-Auto was doing more than just making custom cars: they were providing buyers with factory-quality examples of what the factory didn’t offer, but really should have.
Besides Porsches, it sounds like machines from Range Rovers and other such brands that are sold at dealerships within the Galpin family will also be recipients of this kind of work, and I’m looking forward to seeing them. Still, Range Rovers are already somewhat exclusive; why not show some love to some underrated and not-as-stratospherically-priced cars? Ranier Buchmann proved that a lime green Volkswagen with twenty speakers inside can be cooler than some “prestige” cars. Can’t he do it again?
The Maverick with the BB front looks like a potential Ridgeline replacement given the new Honda esq design language of the front clip.
In the photo of the Porsche 928 T-Top, that lady is blocking my view of those sweet rainbow seats.
That 928 rocks! Such a huge improvement over the factory body style. Shit I want this.
Wish you good luck Beau.
I prefer the name bb-Auto Altiar as shown on the decal on the bumper.
This just reminds me that I would buy a Maverick if you could easily replace the dopey-looking front end with the headlights and grille from the Bronco Sport.
The custom Maverick looks nice but I feel like it loses the point of Maverick as cheap truck. The XL on steelies feels like the essence of Maverick.
That bB Maverick is very good-looking, which makes it not quite a good fit for bb-auto because it’s not tacky enough and doesn’t have enough color 🙂
While I like both the maverick and the aviator, I can’t help but to compare it to what I consider your pinnacle of fictional car design… The maverick made to look like the Lincoln corsair. I’ve had a firm “it’s OK, I guess” opinion of the mavericks exterior looks, but giving it the Lincoln treatment somehow made it look better than any other Lincoln or Ford, and this ones cool, but only 80% as much.
I’ll also admit it’s not a fair comparison, a tuning company should focus on “over the top yet restrained”, but a premium brand should focus on “elegant and classy”.
That’s a fine looking Mavstang, and reminds me of a thought that’s been rolling around my mind since Mercedes reviewed the FP700. Still astonished she was able to get 25mpg babying it at 70mph. So if we scale that all down, and drastically improve drag, it seems theoretically possible to get 50mpg at 70mph in a fun to drive small truck. Say you can make it half the weight, half the peek HP would be just as riotous.
Dem’s cleeeeeeean! Good stuff.
That BB Maverick is a winner.
I was always a fan of the BB CW311.
Hopefully Jason will write that one up soon in one of the next BB installments. Talk about a tasteful, probably reliable supercar- I thought it was a factory build until I realized later that it was all BB.
I never noticed the connection before! The Isdera Imperator is one of my favorite supercars.
The 80s turbofan wheels were/are everything.
you ain’t kidding. But they need the “direction of rotation” arrow for the win.
speaking of which, I did notice the rear 3/4 shot of the Maverick has the wheel rotation arrows going backwards which in turn has the logo reading “dd” lol
ehhh….yeah….so much for people not noticing it was midnight and too lazy to change it. Dammit.
I know it was late, but you really should have taken the time to decide who else on staff you could blame this on.
The biggest problem with the Maverick is that crossbar on the grille makes it look like a late 90s Chevy Silverado.
Ahhh – I suddenly recall the bb 928 Targa from a C&D article back in the day…
…which makes me wonder if that’s why Bellisario, et al, for Magnum PI initially approached Porsche for a 928 with an extra-large sunroof or a targa (to accommodate Tom’s height, and for the overhead shots) for the show?
There’s a great article by P.J. O’Rourke about driving a 308GTS across country to get it on a boat for the pilot of some new show. He said it was called “Don’t Eat The Snow In Hawaii” but we all know now that was just the name of the pilot episode.
I’d like to see what the Bishop could do with the Brubaker Box to bring it into the current times. There were several things about it that were not resolved well to me, like the front bumper, and the fact that the only way in/out of it was the one sliding door.
If I recall it had the world’s most recyclable bumper- a chunk of wood, right?
Today’s manufacturers would toss out the bumpers, triple the size, double the ride height, add two more rows of seats, 6 doors, 24 cupholders & 8 screens – while eliminating all knobs, handles and buttons.
And it would look like a Robot in S&M gear.
Normally, yes. But in the Concours de Lemons video with Beau, David, and Jason, they saw a Box with metal bumpers that were painted to look like wood.
I always thought the wooden bumper made it look like the wood-paneled a/v equipment of the time, kind of oddly high-tech and classy while still being, you know, tree.
That’s one of the parts I love most about the B-Box! I believe it allowed the radio and/or other controls to be placed where the driver’s door would normally be. Sometimes you have to sacrifice convenience for style and cool factor. Just ask any woman who wears high heels.
I like the curved couch for seating in back
All of these concepts would bb-Great.
Also, not to nitpick, the ‘57 Ford Fairlane Skyliner had a retractable hard top decades before the bb-Auto Benz. It was the world’s first, mass-produced retractable hard top, so it had predecessors, too. I suppose you could argue that retracting hard tops didn’t “become a thing” back then despite more than 50,000 purchased, but you could also argue it never really has been a big thing despite several more recent examples, Volvo and VW coming immediately to mind.
Not to nit pick a nitpicker buttt he Peugeot 402 B Eclipse had a retractable hardtop in 1937/38. They made about 500 of them before some spoilsport decided to stop production in 1940. Oddly I saw one yesterday, which is quite odd.
Absolutely, but I’m still blown away that a private firm could chop apart on of the most stoutly built cars ever and make this thing function in an era before you could program circuit boards to make motors synchronize.
Give me a Polaroid rainbow stripe on the Mavstang and I’m in.
Musterick. I dunno.
Musterick (pronounced Moo-Stair-ick?) sounds like a drug you’d see non-stop ads for on Daytime TV.
Announcer: “Are you Galpin deficient? Ask your doctor about Musterick today.”
That BB Aviator picture gives me Bentley vibes. I like the grill delete, but the wheels look overly large for my taste.
Wheels that big would never work, to be honest. But the “over the top” prompt in Photoshop seems to have made them that large.