13 Feb 09
BMW design chief Chris Bangle may be about to depart the company, but he has one last concept car to show off: the Concept 5-Series Gran Turismo, formerly known as the Progressive Activity Sedan.
'You have to understand it from the inside out,' he says of the Concept. 'People just want solutions to their life problems'. The 'problem' the Gran Turismo addresses is that of load-space, cabin-room and functionality versus limousine refinement and coupe/sports saloon good looks. Its solution is a two-way opening tailgate, a large luggage capacity and generous headroom, all contained within a sleek, stylish four-door bodyshell.
This high-end hatchback is a full five metres long, shorter only than the 7-Series saloon in the BMW line-up (like the upcoming F10-series 5-Series saloon and Touring estate, it's based on a shortened version of the 7's underpinnings).
With up to 1650 litres of luggage capacity, it can carry nearly as much as an X5 in its boot, and though its overall height is only 1.56m, it gives as much headroom as the big 4x4.
It's certainly large, but low-riding with four individual seats positioned to allow for optimum legroom and elbowroom all round.
The pair of rear seats, divided by a full-length centre console, slide backwards or forwards by up to 100mm - and in the rearmost position, legroom is equivalent to that in the back of a 7-Series. There'll be the option of a conventional five-seat layout with three-person rear bench, in the production version.
