I don't know whether the Touring name has anything to do with a coachworks, or perhaps it is related to "Grand Touring" where I suppose you could say a sporty stationcar will let you haul even more luggage on your long tour?

I know "Carrozeria Touring" did bodywork for a 328 back in the 1940's but I believe that was for a coupe style. The first production stationcar I recall, was the 2002 Touring.

Do you know the origins of the Touring name and BMW usage, then I'm all ears.

My recollection is that the 2002 Touring was a three-door hatchback:

http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/...one_Rear_1.jpg

This style would certainly allow a couple or a small family to "tour" over long distances with plenty of luggage.

The "Touring" nomenclature seems to be popular in Europe, but BMW refers to the E61 as a "sports wagon" in the U.S. The "http://www.google.com/search?q=bmw+2002+touring&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=2rjQTp-pKaHY0QG7oPkZ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=605#hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=station+wagon&pbx=1&oq=station+wagon&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=603279l606461l0l610060l13l12l0l1l1l0l258l1758l2.6.3l11l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=4ab9bfa5a5eb092&biw=1024&bih=605" style and vehicle class ("estate" in the U.K) has fallen out of favor in the U.S.

HTH,

Right, indeed the original Touring wasn't a Touring (in the modern interpretation) at all. In fact the earliest real Touring I recollect seeing first hand, was an E30.

The style, a 2-box, may indeed generically be referred to as an estate in the UK, but BMW UK refer to their cars as Touring as well.

Perhaps the Touring conundrum is of little interest in the US; just in case I'll pose the question on a European forum as well.

I think crewzer is right in his interpretation.
The 3-door 2002 was a "travel-frendly" concept, i.e. a Travelling car, which is the same as Touring, only that the latter sounds better.
When they decided to make the E30 estate, I presume they used the same name for a car which is also more travel-friendly than the stock sedan version (as the original 2002 Touring).
And the rest is history :cool:

And Re: the US, with all the SUVs around, all the Marketing around, and the conservative image of station wagons, I guess BMW was forced to come up with a more digestible word to replace "Touring", differentiate vs. the SUVs, and promice a little excitement, hence Sport Wagon.

Here's the question, as posed on bimmerforums.co.uk

In Europe, BMW names their stationcars/estates "Touring", which I believe started with the '87 E30 Touring.

Oddly enough, BMW launched the "2002 Touring" in '71 but this was not an estate; rather a 3-door hatchback. I believe that may have been named Touring to associate it with success that the 2002 model had had in the European Touring car championship in 1968.

I don't know whether the Touring name, as used on estate's, has anything to do with a coachwork builder? The Italian "Carrozzeria Touring" did bodywork for a 328 coupe back in 1938, but I don't think they did any work on a shooting brake or estate model.

Perhaps Touring is related to "Grand Touring" where I suppose you could say a sporty stationcar will let you haul even more luggage on your long tour?

Please share, if you know the origins of the Touring name, as it relates to BMW's usage on estates.

Interesting research; I'm looking forward to the replies!

Regards,
Jim / crewzer

I should have stated that BMW won the ETC with the 2002 in both 1968 and 1969. If you look at a table of winners up through 1988 (courtesy Wikipedia), then it is clear that BMW put a lot of emphasis on this championship. In 1970 it was won by Alfa Romeo with the 2000 GTA, a car that BMW very much wanted their 2002 to be compared to, so it makes good sense to me that an early 70's car with sporting pretentions would be named after the ETC.

ETC (1963-1988)

1963 Peter Nöcker (Jaguar Mk II)
1964 Warwick Banks (BMC Mini Cooper S)
1965 Jacky Ickx (Ford Mustang)
1966 Hubert Hahne (BMW 2000TI)
1967 Karl von Wendt (Porsche 911)
1968 Dieter Quester (BMW 2002)
1969 Dieter Quester (BMW 2002)
1970 Toine Hezemans (Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm)
1971 Dieter Glemser (Ford Capri RS2600)
1972 Jochen Mass (Ford Capri RS2600)
1973 Toine Hezemans (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1974 Hans Heyer (Ford Escort RS1600)
1975 Siegfried Müller Sr. (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1976 Jean Xhenceval (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1977 Dieter Quester (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1978 Umberto Grano (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1979 Martino Finotto (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1980 Helmut Kelleners (BMW 320)
1981 Umberto Grano (BMW 635CSi)
1982 Umberto Grano (BMW 528i)
1983 Dieter Quester (BMW 635CSi)
1984 Tom Walkinshaw (Jaguar XJS)
1985 Gianfranco Brancatelli (Volvo 240 Turbo)
1986 Roberto Ravaglia (BMW 635CSi)
1987 Winfried Vogt (BMW M3)
1988 Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3)
Regulations changed hereafter - see Wikipedia

As an aside, I knew Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass were badasses, but I honestly don't think I ever heard of Dieter Quester. Hat's off to his staying power. 68, 69, 77 and 83 is damn impressive. I think I'm going to have to look further at his career. I guess it doesn't involve F1 and Le Mans like the two other gents but with the competition he was up against in ETC, not the least against characters like Tom Walkinshaw, he must have been one awesome racing driver.

Dieter is 70 and still active in touring car championships. He has done 53 24-hour races and also a single F1 race - check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Quester

I'm going to be looking for him in racing news from here on; an impressive, tenacious gent!

Because it sounds better than "stationcar"?

Sorry - cheapshot, but I couldn't resist...... :whistle:

Not cheap, but true. It is purely for marketing purposes, just as Mercedes used to call theirs 'Combi' and now 'Estate', as does Volvo, Audi uses 'Avant', Citroën calls theirs 'Break' and Volkswagen uses 'Variant'. All because 'stationwagon' is considered boring...