2024 BMW Skytop Concept
Much like last year’s Touring Coupe unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the Skytop is just a one-off. However, the German luxury brand might change its mind provided enough people will be willing to pay an obscene amount of money for the 8 Series Convertible with a targa top. Speaking with Automotive News, BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk said a production version is being considered.
He believes anywhere between 20 to 25 cars could be built. Pricing wasn’t mentioned but Skytop would certainly command a massive premium over the 8 Series Convertible donor car, priced at $100,500. Since the concept had the most powerful V-8 ever used by BMW, it was likely based on the M8 Convertible, available from $148,800.
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said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.
For lots of BMW enthusiasts, money isn’t really an issue. The Munich-based marque reportedly charged roughly $750,000 for the 3.0 CSL, which was essentially a rebodied M4 CSL with a manual gearbox and a bit more power. The regular CSL retailed for $139,900, therefore making the retro-flavored 3.0 CSL nearly five and a half times more expensive. The BMW Group is also likely encouraged to give Skytop the green light by the success Rolls-Royce has had with its coachbuilt cars, some of which were allegedly sold for as much as $30 million.
Adrian van Hooydonk believes there is a market for Skytop based on the amount of money people are willing to pay these days for a Z8 from which the new concept takes inspiration. The gorgeous roadster was far less exclusive, with 5,703 cars built from 1998 until 2003. The targa-topped 8 Series Convertible also takes after the 503 and brings back the signature “sharknose” design trait.
The 2023 Touring Coupe we mentioned earlier was also considered for production at some point. Initially, the plan was to build just nine but BMW brand design chief Domagoj Dukec wanted as many as 1,000 units. Doing so would’ve been simpler to homologate the Z4 M40i-based coupe that brought back the Clown Shoe. However, it ultimately never happened as BMW pulled the plug on the project.
BMW has a long history of debuting beautiful concepts at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Unfortunately, none of them saw the light of production day. The 2008 M1 Hommage springs to mind, but there were others, including the 2015 3.0 CSL Hommage, the 2011 328 Hommage, and the 2013 Gran Lusso Coupe penned by Pininfarina. Hopefully, the Skytop will break with tradition and enter production, even if it’ll be limited.
