Besides the R 20 Concept motorcycle, BMW officially launched the Concept Skytop convertible at the festival at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The Concept Skytop is a two-door, two-seat car with a targa roof and equipped with the 617 horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine of the BMW M8 Competition.
Unlike the company’s recent cars, the Concept Skytop has a much more refined design thanks to the company’s well-proportioned kidney grille and classic shark nose tip. The front of the car is neat due to the removal of most of the unnecessary elaborate air vents commonly found on most modern cars. The top-down view almost resembles the shape of a speedboat.
The paint is essentially a gradient paint job done by one of BMW’s most experienced master painters. At the rear, the reddish brown tone of the roof changes to a deep silver with a glossy chrome effect on the exterior paint. The conventional door handle is no longer available and has been replaced by separate small wings. BMW says Skytop’s “bespoke” LED lights are one of the thinnest lights available today.
Despite the Targa convertible top, the Skytop’s rear window can be fully retracted for an additional open-air experience. The hood itself – made of leather is divided into two parts. Moving inside, not only is the hood made of leather, but strips of cowhide are used to cover most of the surfaces in reddish brown.
The fact that BMW launched the Skytop is no coincidence, as the car was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of its predecessor, the Z8. Designed by Henrik Fisker, this iconic model is inspired by the classic 507 and features an aluminum-heavy design as well as a removable hardtop. Fewer than 6,000 Z8s were produced.