Categories: Cars

BMW Skytop Stuns During European Tour

Initially a one-off, the BMW Skytop made its public debut in late May at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Italy. A month later, it made the trip to the UK for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The European tour continued in Hungary for the Art Market Budapest. In addition, the targa-topped stunner made an appearance at the National Museum in Prague. Fresh imagery from its recent stops in Hungary and the Czech Republic shows the concept up close.

BMW recently announced plans to put the Skytop into production, albeit a limited run of only 50 cars. A customer from Czechia has purchased one of the vehicles for an undisclosed price. Rumor has it the company charged at least €500,000. If true, it still wouldn’t be the most expensive new BMW in history. That title goes to the 3.0 CSL for which 50 buyers paid an unconfirmed €750,000.

The exterior may look entirely different from current BMWs, but you can tell from the cabin that the Skytop isn’t an all-new car. Underneath the retro-modern skin with 507 and Z8 influences is an 8 Series, complete with the M8’s twin-turbo V8. It’s dialed to 617 hp, so it’s still down by 10 hp compared to the M5 CS. Oddly enough, BMW claims Skytop uses the brand’s most potent eight-cylinder engine.

BMW doesn’t even need to advertise the car anymore, as all 50 units have already sold out. It’s refreshing to see a model outside of the usual lineup but we’re still sad last year’s Concept Touring Coupe didn’t make the cut. There had been reports about the Z4 M40i-based “Clown Shoe” revival going into production but it never happened.

Hopefully, the overwhelmingly positive feedback received by the Skytop will encourage BMW to build more special cars. With the Z4 reportedly going away in 2026, we’d argue it needs a proper send-off. After all, the 8 Series is also on its last legs and Skytop is likely the last hurrah, so the Z also deserves a swansong.

Source: BMW