Hosted by BMW Group Classic and the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este in Como in Italy, the annual Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este has become a prominent event on the classic car calendar. However, with its parallel focus on concept cars, BMW has long-used the event to allow its designers a little freedom in creating a show car focused on style above all else.
This year, BMW's centrepiece is the Touring Coupe, a shooting brake-style car based on the BMW Z4 roadster.
Remember the BMW Z3 'breadvan'?
Despite the new-look grille and silver-bronze accents, the front of the Touring Coupe is clearly the same as that of the current BMW Z4, albeit fitted with a tasty set of new alloy wheels - measuring 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the back. The Villa d'Este car, however, features a shapely fixed roof and tailgate in place of the Z4's folding convertible soft-top.
The Z4's rear lights are carried over, while its integrated spoiler has been redrawn to better combine with the new roofline. A small rear window is topped by another spoiler, sculpted to fit in with the roof's central channel. On the side, new windows aft of the doors feature an exaggerated Hofmeister kink.
Building on the stance of the Z4 roadster, the Touring Coupe has muscular haunches, but looks ready for a BMW showroom. Alas, the company is adamant that it will be one-off (unlike the similarly-styled Z3 M Coupe of 1999).
Leather-lined luggage bay
Underneath that stylish new rear end is a much larger luggage bay than is found in the BMW Z4, though its gorgeous leather surfacing and bespoke Schedoni luggage make it clear that this isn't an estate to fill up at your local garden centre.
As in the Z4, the Touring Coupe seats the driver and a single passenger and, while the Z4's dashboard is unchanged, BMW has employed the services of Italian leather workshop Poltrona Frau to trim the rest of the car. There's a two-tone finish and a prominent stitching detail to set the car apart.
Presumably an M40i underneath
Domagoj Dukec, head of BMW Design, states that the Touring Coupe "celebrates the original Sheer Driving Pleasure," but the company is light on technical details. We know that it is powered by a straight-six petrol engine so it's logical to assume it gets the same powertrain as the Z4 M40i. That means up to 340hp and 500Nm of torque from a turbocharged 3.0-litre unit, driving the back wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. It's unclear whether the Touring Coupe is any heavier, so a 0-100km/h time of less than five seconds should be achievable.
Worth visiting Como for?
The Touring Coupe is only one part of a massive exhibition by BMW in Como, and indeed the BMW Group, as the Rolls-Royce Spectre will be on display, as will the limited-edition electric MINI Convertible and the even-more-limited modern-day BMW 3.0 CSL. Aside from all that, there will be a huge collection of stunning classic cars to drool over, all vying for prizes in eight different classes, along with a publicly-voted for trophy and even one for best engine sound.