EXPRESSIVE PROFILE
BMW reinterprets the Touring concept, one of the brand’s specialities, with a totally unprecedented aesthetic and functional approach. Initially a prototype, the Concept Speedtop has become reality in the wake of the success enjoyed by the Concept Skytop and will be produced in a run of 70 examples
by Diego Tamone - ph. courtesy by BMW
It all began two years ago on the shores of Lake Como, at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2024 for historically significant classic cars. BMW, the event’s patron, took advantage of the opportunity to cede the spotlight to a prototype that turned not to be just a one-off. The Concept Skytop is a sleek two-seater convertible designed to embody a new style concept but also to offer an adrenaline boost to enthusiasts and collectors of objects of beauty. The inevitable acclaim encouraged the brand to take the unprecedented decision to produce the car with the tweaks that make it suitable for road use, in a small production run of 50 units –enough to transform it into true object of desire. The initiative was hailed by the media, and was repeated somewhat surprisingly the following year when, once again at Cernobbio, the Munich-based manufacturer remodelled the body profile of its hors de concours creation while leaving the formula underpinning the operation untouched. Taking centre stage this time is what a distracted eye might initially take for a simple Touring or shooting brake model, although one that is sleeker and more polished than normal. Its hatchback character is contradicted by the fact it has only three doors, including the rear hatch. Its station wagon style conceals a
Below, a close-up shot of BMW’s Concept Speedtop with sharknose design. Opposite page, from top, a sketch of the interiors with two-seater configuration. A view of the rear shows the sporty Touring line and the unusual colour gradient on the roof
configuration with just two seats. It’s a shooting brake, but one that has been transformed into a type never seen before. BMW calls it the Concept Speedtop and lavishes on it the same perfectionist treatment previously reserved for the open-top model. They unveiled it, let its flowing lines raise the temperature of its prospective owners and then declared a fixed production run of just 70 examples. Adrian van Hooydonk, the BMW Group’s design boss, has called it “an exclamation mark for our entire line-up”. The car is “unique in the automotive industry” and “exudes dynamism and elegance even when it’s standing still”. Conceptually based on the Series 8, the Concept Speedtop is powered by the eight highestperformance cylinders in service with BMW, harnessed together in a 625 horsepower unit. But the main reason to buy this beauty is not the available power – what really attracts aficionados is its design, with a
Clockwise, from top, a view of the interiors emphasises the care dedicated to the Moonshine Leather seats. The central tunnel with automatic gear lever. One of the spaces behind the seats hosts the bespoke luggage by Schedoni
shark-nose front and full-length longitudinal fin that culminates in a spoiler, emphasised along its length by a roof colour that gradually shifts from Floating Sunstone Maroon to Floating Sundown Silver. These two colours are also in display in the interior, where broguestyle details and storage spaces obey an aesthetic criterion, from the trunk, divided into an upper and lower sections, to the space behind the seats. This has been transformed into niches designed to host a baggage set designed to measure by Schedoni, a leading Italian luxury brand producing high-end luggage for the automotive industry. For travelling in style in a family car – that is, in fact, a two-seater. bmw.com