Though BMW is showcasing the Speedtop on the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este as an idea, a manufacturing model will observe. The German luxurious automaker is already taking orders for the M8-based taking pictures brake and plans to construct 70 items. Bavaria’s gorgeous two-door wagon partly exists because of the overwhelming demand for final 12 months’s Skytop idea. Restricted to 50 items, the targa-style convertible attracted considerably extra curiosity than BMW may fulfill.
Lengthy offered out, the Skytop was priced at round €500,000. Unsurprisingly, BMW now prices roughly the identical quantity for the wagon follow-up. Provided that the targa’s worth didn’t deter prosperous patrons, the brand new two-door wagon is more likely to be one other success. And these aren’t even the most costly new BMWs ever made. That title goes to the 3.0 CSLa revival of the Batmobile based mostly on the M4 CSL. Worth? About €750,000. Solely 50 items have been produced, and BMW had no hassle promoting them.
Nonetheless, asking Rolls-Royce cash for an M8 is shocking. In Germany, a totally loaded M8 Competitors Coupe with each possibility and an Particular person paint end prices lower than half, round €220,000. Then once more, the Speedtop options a wholly new physique. Apart from the dashboard, which it shares with the M8, it’s exhausting to inform that this is identical automobile beneath.
In keeping with insiders, the Speedtop was initially deliberate as a coupe. BMW finally determined a taking pictures brake can be extra compelling, and it’s protected to say they made the best name. Approving it for manufacturing additionally softens the blow of understanding that the Idea Touring Coupe won’t ever be constructed. The Z4 M40i clown shoe revival will stay strictly a one-off.
BMW can justify the steep price ticket by promising exclusivity via the restricted manufacturing run. The Speedtop is a shocking automobile, in and out, ideally fitted to collectors in search of a pure ICE expertise. It’s powered by M’s most potent V8 ever, with no hybrid help. Because the period of gas-only engines winds down, hybrids and EVs are taking up to fulfill ever-stricter emissions laws.
That €500,000 worth means that if BMW have been ever to construct one other true supercar, maybe a mid-engine coupe, it might value considerably extra. Whereas the Speedtop borrows a lot from the M8, a flagship efficiency mannequin can be a bespoke creation, sharing little with current automobiles. Fans nonetheless dream of a brand new M1even when most of us may by no means afford one.
These particular, low-volume, coachbuilt initiatives are a robust step in the best path. Their success might lastly give decision-makers the arrogance to greenlight a correct BMW supercar.
