This Italian Company Thinks It Can Fix the BMW M2’s Looks With 1970s Styling

Someone looked at the current BMW M2 and apparently decided the car needed a little help in the styling department. That’s where Riverti Automobili comes in. The small Italian restomod company is turning the M2 into a retro-inspired special with styling cues from the legendary 3.0 CSL of the 1970s.

Riverti has already shown a disguised prototype at the Tutto Bene Hillclimb in Italy and has teased the project through social media.

The camouflage hides some of the finer details, but there’s enough to see where the company is going. The M2 gets a completely new body, including four round headlights, smaller kidney grilles, fresh air intakes, and a custom hood. The tightly spoked wheels also bring some old-school BBS flavor to the design.

The side profile gets its own set of changes, with large air intakes behind the doors and bespoke side skirts. Around the back, Riverti adds flared rear fenders, a large fixed spoiler, and distinctive new taillights. At this point, there isn’t much left visually to remind you that the starting point was a regular M2.

What Riverti has done underneath is still unclear. The standard M2 uses a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six with 473 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. The company hasn’t announced any engine upgrades, but given the amount of work going into the body, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some extra power too. The 523-hp M2 CS would be an obvious reference point.

We also haven’t seen the interior yet, so there’s no telling how far Riverti will take the restomod treatment inside. The finished car should be revealed before too long, and that’s when we’ll find out whether Riverti has changed more than just the M2’s face.