Are the BMW CS Coupes copies of the GM Bubbletops?

[Drew Gregg]

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/the-enduring-allure-of-gms-bubbletop-coupes-thin-pillars-big-value/?uemlid=3fbbfa32537ba3faef1e2b66df2cb951bbeece40cdd5a0dbf7cca3dd8aa2d256&utm_content=other&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EDaily%20Recurring%202025-07-08&utm_term=eDaily%20Newsletter

If you started being a car-guy/gal in the late 50's/early '60's,you know what a Bubbletop was. There was nothing cooler than a '61 Impala Bubbletop in my mind.
The sleek A and C pillars of the CS Coupe made me think of the cars I thought were really cool back in my teenage years.
We just called them Hardtops back then, not knowing the BMW-eze was Pillarless tops.
Too bad BMW didn't add the frame around the front and rear windows to make them water and airproof like the old Hardtops' design. After all, the windows disappeared when down in the old cars just like they do in the CS.
Do you think the Beach Boys could have rewritten their song in the late 60's to celebrate our cars? "She's real fine my rusty E9.." maybe not.....

 

[Arde]

Beautiful cars!
Low waist line, no B -pillar, thin A pillar are indeed common.
The GM cars look even more radical with fins, chrome, curved glass.

I suspect the BMWs were not inspired by GM, just because designers are probably parroquial, and at most getting Italian design elements into German cars...

 

[adawil2002]

If the 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport came with a manual gearbox, I would be tempted.

 

[vince]

If the 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport came with a manual gearbox, I would be tempted.

View attachment 205080

In my dream collection, there would be two American cars for sure - a 65 Riv GS and a 70-73 Pontiac Trans Am. There would be a couple of American trucks in there too.

My parents had the very first Riviera in the state of Missouri. My Mom read an ad in a magazine showing the new 63 Riviera, looked at my dad and said 'that's a car!' My dad was a young dentist just starting his practice and went out and ordered one with her name on the plaque on the dash. The 63 was ahead above everything other American car design wise, in 65 they perfected the design - one of the best looking cars ever.

 

[Arde]

In my dream collection, there would be two American cars for sure - a 65 Riv GS and a 70-73 Pontiac Trans Am. There would be a couple of American trucks in there too.

My parents had the very first Riviera in the state of Missouri. My Mom read an ad in a magazine showing the new 63 Riviera, looked at my dad and said 'that's a car!' My dad was a young dentist just starting his practice and went out and ordered one with her name on the plaque on the dash. The 63 was ahead above everything other American car design wise, in 65 they perfected the design - one of the best looking cars ever.

Pictures of the car and them in it?

 

[vince]

Pictures of the car and them in it?

No, unfortunately. Not to get too deep but my dad grew up with means, promise, and taste. In the end, he destroyed everything in his life and that car was one of casualties along the way.