bb - Rainer Buchmann

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company, bb, caused quite a stir in the automotive world with their technological innovations incorporating spectacular design. The bb “rainbow” Porsche, as the world’s very first Turbo Targa, leapt onto the covers of not only auto motor und sport but also the international motoring press, and into the public eye. The iconic bb CW 311 remains an unforgettably unique creation, a contemporary re-interpretation of the legendary Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing. Equally unique is the bb Futuro, a BMW motorcycle design study. There followed other memorable automotive creations, such as the VW Polo Paris. In their own time, innovations such as a revolutionary parking assist system capable of centimetric precision, the first computercontrolled on-board automotive

In the 1980s, Rainer Buchmann and his firm, bb, caused quite a stir in the automotive world. The best-known creations of the Frankfurt-based automobile couturier are the famed “rainbow” Porsche and, of course, the legendary CW 311 super sports car.

information system, and the patented

Gerold Lingnau · Rainer Buchmann

In the 1980s, Rainer Buchmann and his

Gerold Lingnau

Rainer Buchmann Innovation · Design · Emotion

For decades, the innovations of Rainer Buchmann, founder and proprietor of bb, have fascinated auto fans and the international automotive press. This “auto” biography is still a work in progress. The last – but certainly not the final – chapter tells of the rebirth of bb.

multifunction steering wheel concept are

This biography tells the captivating story of bb’s founder and proprietor,

testimony to bb’s technical brilliance. The

and chronicles the development of then-revolutionary innovations such as

serving editor-in-chief of the “Technik und

the first computer-controlled automotive on-board information system and

Motor” supplement to the Frankfurter

crime caper film comedy “Car-Napping,” in which bb automobiles play starring roles, remains an enduring cult classic.

Dr. Gerold Lingnau, initiator and long-

Allgemeine Zeitung, is an award-winning

the patented multi-function steering wheels. It recounts tales of marketing

book author. Having experienced and

coups and exciting design, of the most remarkable desires from customers

observed the development of the firm

all over the world, and of the latest bb creation, the “Moonracer.”

firsthand, Dr. Lingnau places the bb story in context, from the perspective of a contemporary eyewitness.

Gerold Lingnau, creator and long-serving editor-in-chief of the “Technology and Motor” supplement to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Frankfurt’s largest daily newspaper – has authored this sensationally illustrated biography of Rainer Buchmann and the stunning creations of bb.

ISBN 978-3-95843-393-9

HEEL

n Content

Content Chapter 1 Auto couturier and trendsetter The road to the book / Rainer Buchmann – then and now / Living and enjoying life with the automobile / Technical and societal premieres / Industry contacts Chapter 2 It would have to be a Porsche Every new venture faces challenges / With crankshaft in hand, it was off to Málaga / A roof avalanche, and its consequences / From calling to career / Friends turned into customers, customers into friends / An accident and its consequences / Independence instead of in college Chapter 3 The allure of the back-alley garage The first location: Sandweg 82-84 / From musician to auto body specialist / Leaving the arena through the big gate / Salesmanship in recruiting and hiring / When customers want that personal relationship / The final touch – the cotton swab Porsche drivers: well-heeled and selfassured / Very kind, but sometimes too much of a good thing / From tactical to strategic thinking Chapter 4 Over the rainbow: The bb 911 Turbo Targa The mega-Porsche / A rainbow at the 1976 photokina / Magazine covers as accolades / Borrowing from the living room: automotive audio by bb / Dealing with a special type of customer / A Nigerian approaches bb about the American market / The luxurious side of New York / The contract that wasn’t Chapter 5 Unique, times two: The bb CW 311 and its star A very promising project appears / Approval, but not without risk / A marketing concept was needed / With a little help … from Playboy / Reaction from Stuttgart was quick to come / The testers were delighted / In Brunei, or not?

Chapter 6 bb BMW Futuro, the marketing machine An underhanded trick? / bb was given a free hand / Far ahead, electronically Chapter 7 Shining on the River Rhine: bb Golf Ten colorful gemstones / An illustrious group of suppliers / Photo session with obstacles / “Both sides profited”/ Metallic effect and pearlescence / Liquid crystals – straddling the boundary between solid and liquid / An LCD display graced the bb BMW Futuro Chapter 8 bb on the Big Screen – the Film “Car-Napping” The German crime caper comedy “Car-napping” has become a cult favorite / Forty Porsches roar down the Champs-Élysées / The dashing criminal steals hearts

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Chapter 9 Personalized Porsches bb and Porsche: made for each other / The Caribbean customer’s every wish was fulfilled / A refrigerated bar, the size of a whisky bottle / Aziz Omar Shennib: a friend and role model / Caught in the web of dictator Gaddafi / No BMW for the Egyptian girlfriend / A brief digression: a different kind of test drive / All decked out for Upper Bavaria / The yearning for flip-up headlamps / Laying down a smokescreen like James Bond / A secret compartment for a pistol, just in case / Not every event deserves a photograph / The strange world of Jeddah / Bad behavior results in cut allowance / Cultivated enmities / A new gap in the Porsche model lineup / The 924 and 944 remained wallflowers / The Beaujolais Primeur travels by Porsche / Collateral damage in the Camargue Chapter 10 Lightweight design – aerospace – luxury wheels A champion in a rustic setting / A weighty history / The Fuchs story in time lapse / The billet is transformed into a wheel / In the service of comfort and safety / Uncompromising reliability / Wooing the consumers Chapter 11 Polo en Vogue: Paris Holiday A top manager approaches bb / Forty Polos – what a show! / From Sandweg to the Orber Strasse / How to present forty German supermini cars in the middle of Paris / A prince rides to the rescue / Polos are en Vogue / Everything ran like clockwork / A successful tent revival in Paris Chapter 12 Enchanted Mercedes Cool restraint, made contemporary / Where to put a hot steel roof? / The Magic Top demanded a simpler solution / Steel tubes, in and on the trunk / With the full blessing of the TÜV / bb provided model revitalization / A truly spectacular Mercedes / Not keen on nostalgia Chapter 13 iDEE > iNNOVATION > iMAGE Often far ahead, through innovations / Opening doors at the touch of a button / Good ideas are often stolen / Easier parking with a distance sensor from a camera / Roggendorf’s masterpieces: multi-function steering wheel and Dinfos / Only the visible surface was discussed / The wheel as a brake cooling fan / Wobble plate instead of crankshaft / Interesting in combination with electric motors / New plans – and why they were not realized / “Dynamite Herbie” performed a last act of friendship for bb, in the form of casht Chapter 14 A quarter century later: the bridge builders Firmly rooted in the memory of its fans / The man who bought the “rainbow Porsche” in 1980 / The showpiece is well cared for / An anonymous bb fan lies in wait / The “slant nose” was soon joined by a Polo Carat and a Magic Top / A platonic relationship with bb / Klaus-Jürgen Orth does not do things by half measures / Re-interpretation of a historic bb Porsche Chapter 15 The Moonracer marks a new beginnings As the moon follows the sun / Experts at work / Gentlemen don’t talk about money / The drive for perfection / The second act: a modern “rainbow / Artisanal carpets from Nepal / Thinking into the future: a Targa based on a current car

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Chapter 1

Auto couturier and trendsetter

n bb on the Big Screen – the Film “Car-Napping”

themselves being blackmailed, by a photographing, wiretapping detective with the survival instincts of a cockroach.

The dashing criminal steals hearts. In the movie, the hero is originally a designer who loses his job and his unrealized car concepts, which have been appropriated by his former boss. When his own Porsche is stolen, he manages to corner the two thieves and resolves to be the third man in their gang. He becomes not only a partner, but the mastermind of the crew. His criminal career begins its meteoric rise. Each of the three large-scale contract thefts in the movie, which all go off according to our hero’s plans, has its own ingenious script.

In the middle of filming. And everything is focused on one of the stars – the bb CW 311.

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bb on the Big Screen – the Film “Car-Napping” n

In contrast to the real Harry König, who served his prison sentence, at the end our protagonist escapes justice, and, it is feared, the viewers are completely on the side of the criminal.

Such a dashing hero should not languish in prison, instead of starting a new, clean life with his lady lawyer friend. But at the very end, the film refuses to visualize this option. Moreover, in the final scene, the ominous detective appears again, the cockroach of doom. And so the fate of the criminal, the product of his own passion for cars, remains ambiguous.

Modern viewers of the film need to view the film’s concept, execution, language, and props charitably; it is after all a child of the 1980s. But even today, for automobile enthusiasts, especially Porsche fans, it is indeed a nostalgic pleasure, even without any Oscar nominations to its credit. Rainer Buchmann knows aficionados who have watched the capers of Harry König, alias Robert Mehring, at least ten times. For bb and its cars, the film was nothing short of superb public relations.

Break into a car? No problem.

Bernd Stephan, who plays the leading role in “Carnapping,” can demonstrate the technique perfectly. He plays the dapper criminal with elegance and credibility.

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Personalized Porsches n

The black Turbo Targa was the world’s most expensive Porsche to date. The buyer (in photo, at left, in white shirt) took plenty of time at bb to discuss his wishes with Rainer Buchmann.

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n Personalized Porsches

The list of exclusive extras grew, sometimes contrary to Buchmann’s advice. For example, Buchmann found the desired gold-colored leather-covered dashpad less than sensible, because its reflection in the windshield greatly hampered outward visibility. “Don’t worry about it,” the man from Curaçao reassured Buchmann. “Most of the time, I just park at the beach and watch TV.” bb would help him pursue his television viewing pleasures.

Sony had just brought out its first portable color TV, with a tiny screen, and Rodríguez wanted to have that in his Porsche, at all costs. That meant major modifications; Melero had to cut up the entire dash and rebuild it to house the TV. Of course, there was a gold-plated antenna mounted to the roof.

his bodyguards flew to London and bought the most expensive whisky he could find. He brought the porcelain bottle back to Frankfurt for Melero to use as a pattern, around which he built the custom refrigeration system.

For his part, Buchmann – he emphasizes that this was the one and only time – violated his own personal oath to never meddle in motors. Because the customer insisted on it, he installed a manual boost controller knob, gold plated of course. Here, too, Rodríguez reassured Buchmann: his island only had 30 kilometers of contiguous roads, he wouldn’t ever be able to drive fast for any extended time. Well, all right, thought bb’s boss. The customer’s

A refrigerated bar, the size of a whisky bottle.The next special wish was a refrigerated bar mounted at the rear of the cabin. To make sure it had the right dimensions, the quirky customer and

Boost wheel: Recognizable in the cockpit of the Rodríguez Porsche are manual boost control knob – at the far right of the instrument group – and the tiny television set. These required extensive modifications on the part of bb.

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The bridge builders n

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n The bridge builders

at the IAA, the Frankfurt Auto Show, and found Buchmann, as always, at the center of a swarm of people. They were able to get within earshot of Buchmann, and proceeded to carry on a very loud, very knowledgeable “shop talk” conversation between themselves regarding bb’s cars. Buchmann took note and pronounced that “So much knowledge should be rewarded” and let them past the ropes and into the display. For both boys, this amounted to entry to paradise, and they made good use of the opportunity to look around.

Lenhart also remembers a later visit to the Orber Strasse shops, where the bb CW 311 was still on display; he also remembers an

attractive marketing lady on bb’s staff. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the company’s founding, he even created a congratulatory card and, to his mother’s chagrin, spent 50 marks of his own savings for photography. Unfortunately, Buchmann never received the product of his efforts, even though Lenhart personally placed it in bb’s mailbox. Lenhart and Buchmann didn’t really become acquainted until 2005. Since then, they and their wives have become good friends, share many interests and preferences – and to this day, that long-ago seeker of knowledge of all things bb has remained a bb fan.

Photographic models: Rainbow and Moonracer, together in the studio.

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