The latest concept car from BMW is the BMW Concept Skytop, which has been unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este that takes place alongside Lake Como in Italy. Melding the latest styling elements with design cues from past roadsters in the German marque’s history such as the Z8 and the 503, the front end of the Concept Skytop reprises the classic forward-leaning shark-nose front fascia, combining this with modern cues such as the illuminated kidney grille. Among the visual features of the Concept Skytop are the full-length spline that runs from the bonnet through the car’s interior, connecting to an aluminium trim piece on the tailgate to “emphasise the dynamic flow” of the car’s silhouette, says BMW.
Inside, the occupant cabin of the Concept
Skytop features a leather-trimmed rollover bar that combines with side fins on
the car’s B-pillars, while the cabin itself draws upon the interior of the
production 8 Series. Beyond the styling aspects, there are more parallels drawn
with the Z8 from which the Concept Skytop draws inspiration, namely, also in
terms of powertrain. Where the Z8 used the 4.9 litre naturally aspirated V8 as
found in the super-sedan of its contemporary, the E39-generation M5, the
Concept Skytop packs “the most powerful V8 engine in the BMW drivetrain
portfolio,” according to the brand, making no mention of electric-assisted
drive.
This would be the S63 4.4 litre biturbo
petrol V8 engine that outputs 625 PS and 750 Nm in the M8 Competition, or
slightly more at 635 PS in the M5 CS. While this is a concept in name and
styling, the Concept Skytop could pave the way for a production car. “The
headlamps, the tail-lights, they’re new. They’re as slim as we could possibly
make them, but we know they could be homologated. If we do it, I think we
should do it in a very limited production. Like we did with the 3.0 CSL,” BMW
design director Adrian van Hooydonk told Autocar.
