Remember the BMW 3 Series Compact? Well, a digital artist has created renderings showing what a modern hatchback version of the firm’s Three might look like.

Wearing the “Compact” badge, the three-door hatch version of the 3 Series debuted back in 1993 on the E36 platform. In 2001, three years before production ended and the original 1 Series arrived to take its place, the 3 Series Compact switched to the E46’s underpinnings.

Nikita Chuyko’s renderings, published on kolesa.ru, depict what a G20-generation version might look like.

While the artist says he didn’t change the wheelbase, the vehicle’s length overall was cut thanks to the adoption of a smaller rear overhang. Chuyko also included suitably lengthy doors and a top-hinged bootlid that includes the rear window. Like the original, this imagined model is rear-driven.

Of course, the Munich-based firm would have little reason to build such a vehicle today, with the (now-front-driven) 1 Series playing the role of entry-level BMW. Still, it’s always fun to imagine...

Original article from Car