01 May 07
'The concept car fits in with Shanghai,' announces Adrian van Hooydonk as he joins us for breakfast at the Grand Hyatt.
At 88 storeys, set in the midst of the city's Pudong financial district, the Grand Hyatt is the tallest hotel in the world. This was farmland only 13 years ago but now, with its polished skyscrapers, the ultra-modern district is the epitome of Shanghai's modernisation.
'The city is fresh and full of life,' says the BMW design chief. 'Just look at these buildings.' Star architects Sir Norman Foster, Michael Graves and Zaha Hadid have all contributed to this landscape. 'The CS shows a little bit of what the brand could grow-up into. It goes beyond what we already have. Like us, the city of Shanghai is forever growing - taller, bigger, better. It's thoroughly modern.' And, like BMW, 'it is also in love with luxury.'
The CS, the car we're promised will show the future design direction for BMW, is revealed in the flesh the following day. First appears its long, lean nose. Then the body appears, echoing the moment in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea when the old fisherman gets a glimpse of the beautiful, mysterious giant fish for the first time.
