BMW Italia has built a one-off M3 as a tribute to Alex Zanardi, timed to what would have been his 60th birthday, and is displaying it at EICMA 2026 on the BMW Motorrad stand in Hall 14. The car is badged "Tribute to Alex Zanardi" and was created with Italian design studio BorromeoDeSilva on the body of the current M3.
The display arrives in the same year as the M3's 40th anniversary, and BMW Italia chose a motorcycle show rather than a car show for the unveiling. Zanardi raced BMWs using hand controls after losing both legs in a 2001 crash at the Lausitzring.
A design exercise, not a mechanical one
Nothing under the skin changes. BorromeoDeSilva's work is entirely cosmetic, concentrated on livery and cabin trim rather than the engine or chassis of the current M3. BMW is treating the car as a design and storytelling exercise, a way of marking a relationship that started with race wins and continued into off-track projects long after Zanardi stopped competing in cars full time.
That framing matters for anyone hoping the tribute previews a future M3 variant: it does not. It is a display piece, and BMW has not indicated it will be sold.
The pineapple and the M colours
The exterior reworks BMW M's traditional blue, purple and red racing colours in a contemporary graphic treatment, drawing on liveries used on the brand's competition cars since its earliest motorsport years. Worked into that graphic is a pineapple, Zanardi's personal good-luck symbol, rendered through M's design language rather than as a literal decal.
Inside, the front seats are trimmed in anthracite Alcantara with laser-perforated centres that reveal an iridescent backing fading from blue to red underneath. Smooth Alcantara bands cross the seats and door panels, and red pineapple embroidery appears on the front headrests and centre armrest.
The cabin's colour balance nods to the BMW M3 E30 Sport Evolution, translating that car's motorsport heritage into current materials rather than copying its look outright. Upholstery specialist Alcantara and partner Befuel both helped turn BorromeoDeSilva's concept into a finished, driveable car.
Why BMW Italia is honouring Zanardi now
Sergio Solero, president and CEO of BMW Italia, said describing what Zanardi meant to BMW and to everyone who shared part of the journey with him is far more difficult because his memory remains extraordinarily alive. Solero said Zanardi's bond with BMW ran from the race track to Paralympic podiums and eventually into social initiatives the driver helped build.
Zanardi won the CART World Series title in 1997 and 1998 before the 2001 crash, then returned to racing and went on to Paralympic success in handcycling before his death on May 1, 2026. BMW Italia also unveiled a permanent panel at its House of BMW Italia headquarters honouring him as what Solero called the company's greatest role model.
The connection continues through Niccolò Zanardi, Alex's son, who works as an ambassador for SpecialMente, BMW Italia's social responsibility programme, and instructs at the BMW Driving Experience, including courses for disabled drivers that use an M2 fitted with special hand controls.
Putting the car in front of EICMA's motorcycle audience rather than a car show crowd is a deliberate choice, and it fits the shape of the relationship BMW Italia is celebrating: Zanardi's story runs through hand controls, handbikes and social programmes as much as through race cars.
