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.
“We could deliver [a production car] within a year if we were to go that way,” van Hooydonk said. “It is a little bit like a test balloon. You show the cars, and if there’s enough demand, it can be built. I think the demand is quite high. So probability is quite high. We’ll see over the next few weeks if that interest translates into purchasing orders,” BMW M CEO Frank van Meel told the magazine.
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That interior already in your 8 series, u mean your designers only need to design the exterior and call it a day and then recycle back your previously designed interior? U desperately need a new design language for the interior to set future design theme. Only new shell is an easy job nowadays coz china design theme has done much better inside and out!
bmw is so outdated… the best they can come up with?