BMW is taken to the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este with the spectacular and stunningly beautiful Concept Skytop

This weekend saw another edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este take place in Italy, an event that brings together the most prestigious vehicle manufacturers in the world, among them BMW with a very special model, so special that it is a prototype that will undoubtedly have left more than one person speechless with its presentation.

This is the BMW Concept Skytop, and I don’t think I’m mistaken in saying it is one of the most beautiful BMW models the German brand has created in recent years, above any other, perhaps partly because it takes as its reference and pays homage to two roadster models that also marked an era within the brand: the BMW Z8 and the BMW 503.

The exterior design of the BMW Concept Skytop broadly follows the proportions of these vehicles, with the characteristic “shark nose” design typical of BMW, in which kidney grilles reappear with proportions closer to the classics, without the exaggerated sizes we have become used to lately, and which it is a joy to see again. Long, narrow headlights in line with the bonnet reveal an aggressive gaze, completed by a bumper with large air intakes but without flashiness; we have a design with no aggressive lines that would break the cleanliness of its styling.

Perhaps it is on the side where we find much more pronounced lines, which in no way blur the overall design of the BMW Concept Skytop. We see how, at the height of the headlights, a prominent shoulder line begins and extends, gradually fading until it reaches the height of the rear wheel arch; just as it starts to dissipate, a waistline rises more strongly a little lower down, reaching the middle part of the wheel arch.

From the height of this line, at the rear we have LED lights of generous size but very narrow, following the line of the front lights, so much so that BMW itself states they are the slimmest headlight profile that can currently be installed on a vehicle, mounted on milled aluminium brackets. At the top of the rear we have the tailgate, with a design that recalls luxury motorboats thanks to a central rib that disappears before reaching the edge, where a discreet integrated spoiler forms.

The design details of the BMW Concept Skytop do not end there, with a leather-finished roll bar that integrates perfectly into the design of this prototype and that is fitted with a folding rear window; in addition, the two removable roof panels can be attached to it, and when removed they can be stored in the special compartment in the boot. Another ingenious design detail is the elimination of the door handles, which are replaced by small fins that, as you may have noticed, are housed in the door frames.

To finish with the exterior, BMW chose to entrust a master painter from the Dingolfing plant with applying to the bodywork of the Concept Skytop a gradient in which the reddish-brown tone of the roof fades into the muted silver with a chrome-shadow effect of the paint on the rest of the bodywork. These colours form a smooth transition with those of the interior, where the reddish-brown tone has been chosen as the main colour in combination with chrome and glass applications.

Mechanically, if you have noticed the enormous rear exhaust outlets, you will imagine it has one of the big engines: it specifically uses a V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology, fitted to the M8 Competition, which delivers a power output of 625 CV in combination with the eight-speed Steptronic gearbox.