One of the year’s best concepts is becoming a reality.
BMW has confirmed that it will put the Concept Skytop it brought to this year’s Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza into production. The German marque plans to build just 50 examples of the two-seater, but the fact that it’s going into production at all is a victory for anyone who appreciated beautiful automotive design.
The announcement was made during a special event hosted by the House of BMW in Milan late last week. It was there that Adrian van Hooydonk, the head of BMW’s design team, revealed that a strictly limited run of the vehicle had been approved due to the hugely positive response it received following its appearance at the annual Concours event. The marque has increasingly catered to collectors with ultra-limited special editions in recent years including the BMW 3.0 CSL, a tribute to the company’s first M car, the “Batmobile.”
It’s easy to see why the Skytop generated so much excitement following its debut. The hand-built two-seater is a celebration of the brand’s long history of sporting convertibles. It features a sculptural look that calls to mind the Z8. It’s based on the current 8 Series convertible but features a revised front fascia with illuminated kidney grille, more aggressive lines, including a visually striking central spine, and removable roof panels that can be stored in the trunk when the weather’s nice. Rounding things out is a set of alloy wheels with a gill-like covering.
No performance details were announced back in the spring, other than that it is powered by the most powerful engine the automaker makes. That suggests it will have the twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V-8 from the M8 Competition under the hood. The potent mill makes 617 hp and 553 ft lbs of torque, suggesting the convertible will be plenty fast.
Unfortunately, it’s also going to be plenty hard to acquire. All 50 examples BMW will build have already been spoken for, the company announced last week. It’s unclear what the price tag will be, but expect it to cost significantly more than the range-topping M8 Competition Convertible which starts at US$148,800 (HK$1.15 million).
