The stunning new BMW Speedtop is a £500k V8 shooting brake spun off an M8
BMW reveals delightful, practical big boy limited to just 70 models and yeah, you want one
When is a BMW Touring not a Touring? When it’s a Speedtop, an M8-based, £500k limited run special that’s just been unveiled at the annual festival of loveliness that is the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance.
“The BMW Concept Speedtop is characterised first of all by its profile,” head of BMW Group Design Adrian van Hooydonk explains. “It is unique in the automotive industry. In this way, we have created an exclamation mark for our entire line-up of vehicles, especially for the Touring models.”
BMW, of course, has a long history of rolling out emotionally resonant one-offs at the historic event on the shore of Lake Como. More recently, though, the company has showcased its bandwidth by putting them into production. In 2015, the 3.0 CSL homage blew a fair few minds and 50 were eventually made. Last year it was the turn of the Skytop, an elegant coupe/convertible with a subtly eye-popping graduated paint-job, 50 of which are coming to life in a special facility within BMW’s Dingolfing plant in Bavaria. The paint-shop there has phenomenal capability and there’s even a saddlery for the finest in leathery interior makeovers.
The Speedtop leans into all the possibilities while doffing its cap at the mysteriously alluring Shooting Brake idea, while perhaps permitting echoes of the eternally cool late Nineties M Coupe. (Quick note: a brake was a form of carriage back in the 19th century, and the shooting bit references adaptations to the body to suit hunting parties. Now you know…)
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