How do you pay tribute to the past? by looking forward to the present and the future beyond. That’s what BMW have done with the M2 based Hommage Concept car which was unveiled last Friday at the Villa d’Este in Lake Como, Italy. The 2002 Hommage Concept is designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the very first 02 branded car. While BMW’s publicity machine stated that the 2002 Hommage re-imagines the original 2002 Turbo, one can quite clearly see it is a radically rebodied M2. The original 1973 2002 Turbo was the first car to house a mass-produced turbocharged engine. Well you have got to start from somewhere. BMW’s current design boss Adrian Van Hooydonk said that the styling of the normally aspirated version of the 2002 still “influences everything we do”. The 2002 was eventually replaced in 1975 by the 3 Series which was a door-door coupe only at the time. Fast forward to 2016 and the 2 Series has been resurrected but this Hommage Concept will always remain just a concept. Think of the 2002 Hommage Concept as a publicity stunt, perhaps a subliminal message. A way of persuading the potential new car buyer into buying into the BMW car culture.