Fans of truly gorgeous BMWs, rejoice! The German car maker has confirmed that the Skytop concept will go into limited production.
The Skytop was BMW’s concept car revealed at the Concorso D’Eleganza earlier this year, held at Villa D’Este on the shores of Lake Como. BMW has long sponsored the classic car event - one of the most celebrated and exclusive - and the Munich marque always brings something interesting to show off amid the lineup of rare classics.
Slim-hipped
This year, it was the Skytop’s turn - a stunningly slim-hipped, clean-lined design study of a targa-topped coupe based on the current 8 Series. Now, following the hugely warm welcome given to the car, BMW has confirmed that it will make a short run of Skytops that you can actually buy.
Announcing the decision, Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, said: “The BMW Skytop is a truly exotic design and offers a combination of driving dynamics and elegance at the highest level. To finally be able to announce that this car will be built is like a dream come true. Thank you for the very positive response around the globe and to the passionate team that worked on the project.”
Just 50 cars
van Hooydonk made the announcement at an event hosted by the House of BMW in Milan, where the Skytop was on display once again. As with a previous concept-car-made-real - the BMW 3.0 CSL concept, another Villa D’Este star - the Skytop will be limited to just 50 cars.
The Skytop was designed as a homage to classic BMW roadsters such as the 507 from the 1960s and the Z8 from the 1990s. It gets a proper BMW ‘shark nose’ with incredibly slim radiator grilles (hurrah!) and a distinct spine that runs up the bonnet and over the roof.
The door handles are disguised as little aerodynamic flicks, and the LED headlights are said to be the slimmest lights ever fitted to a car. The bodywork is finished in a shimmering ‘Floating Sundown Silver’ colour, while the roof - and the leather-covered roll-hoop - are finished in a contrasting dark brown, as is the Skytop’s interior. The paint for the concept was hand-applied to ensure the right finish, so it will be interesting to see if that is carried through to the production cars.
Leather roof
The roof panel is split in two, both covered in leather, and they pop out and are stored in the boot in classic targa-top style. The rear window also slides down to give an almost fully-open sensation.
Underneath, the Skytop uses the same mechanical package as the M8 Competition coupe, so there’s the familiar 4.4-litre M V8 with 625hp driving all four wheels and giving the Skytop a blistering 3.3-second 0-100km/h acceleration.