BMW enters the limited-production arena.
Move over Aston Martin, there’s a new short-run special-model player in town, that town being Munich. With the Skytop in 2024 and Speedtop in spring 2025, BMW has impressively joined high-end carmakers in offering very limited models based on existing cars.
How limited? BMW said it would build just 50 Skytops and 70 Speedtops. Both cars are based on the BMW 8 Series. By the time of their separate introductions at Italy’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2024 and this year, all cars were reportedly spoken for.
The Skytop was said to be about $540,000 and the Speedtop should probably be assumed in that neighborhood. Here’s a closer look at the newer Speedtop, with a glance back at the Skytop.
Photo credit: BMW
BMW’s Legacy of Limited-Production Cars
We have witnessed, in recent years, a mini revival of the true limited-production car like those once offered by top-tier luxury cars before WWII and then, afterward, with some European high-performance sports and GT cars. Aston Martin’s series of four Zagato-bodied Vanquish specials made from 2016-2019 and Ferrari’s recent Icona-series models exemplify this trend. Especially for Ferrari, those specials are a return to how the company built some cars into the early 1970s.
Now, BMW has entered the chat. The company is no stranger to limited-production cars. The exquisite BMW 507 roadster of the mid-1950s, with about 250 made, was the pinnacle of a series of postwar V8 luxury models. These cars, which also included the 503 coupe and convertible, nearly bankrupted the company. Safely on solid ground in the late 1970s, BMW did it again (minus the financial calamity) with the M1, a race homologation special with 399 road cars and about 50 racecars built.
The Speedtop and Skytop are something very different.
What’s a Shooting Brake?
Our earlier allusion to the Vanquish-based Aston Martin Zagatos, and specifically the Shooting Brake model, makes sense for a comparison with the BMW Speedtop. One of the oddest names for car body style, “shooting brake” historically referred to a type of horse-drawn carriage once used to carry hunting parties, their gear and eventual quarry. (In British English, “brake” was a kind of horse carriage.)
British carmakers used the term for some 1920s and 1930s cars that were custom-built for the same purpose. In the mid-1960s, Aston Martin resuscitated “shooting brake” for a dozen long-roof DB5s built by coachbuilder Radford. The term caught on from there to mean, basically, two-door wagon. By that definition, a 1970s Chevy Vega Kammback wagon was a “shooting brake.”
But we digress. Both the Aston Martin Zagato Shooting Brake and BMW Speedtop are long-roof hatchback coupes. Both are lookers with similar forms, but the BMW comes off as a less fussy design.
Photo credit: BMW
Shooting Down the Road with 617 Horses
Before getting into the design details, let’s sample the “speed” in Speedtop. As noted, it is based on the BMW 8 Series, and specifically the M8. That includes its 617-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 teamed with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The “speed” part is genuine, with 0-60 in about three seconds. The Skytop, which is essentially the same car with a targa-type roof, uses the same powertrain.
Both “Top” cars show a pronounced, shark-like V-shape front end. We can all be eternally grateful that the designers gave these limited-production BMWs slim-line, horizontal dual kidney grilles rather than the in-your-face vertical grilles seen on some production BMWs. The Speedtop and Skytop grilles feature LED perimeter illumination, and a strong character line runs from the rear edge of the super-slim headlights to the equally super-slim taillights. On both, a subtle central spine running down the hood continues into the roof.
Room for Two and Special Luggage
The Speedtop replaces the lift-off roof with an enclosed hatchback. The shallow rear luggage compartment is a welcome home for the specially made bags by Schedoni in Italy that BMW will offer. Two small shelves behind the seats accommodate two more Schedoni bags that are secured with straps. An elegant LED light array rings the luggage compartment.
At least on the concept Speedtop, the roof also sports a paint color gradient. The color shifts from “Floating Sunstone Maroon” to “Floating Sundown Silver.” BMW says the elaborate exterior and interior craftsmanship was handled by the Manufactory Workshop at the BMW Group plant in Dingolfing. We’d imagine that alluring color scheme and other custom options will be available to customers.
Familiar BMW Feel
The BMW Skytop and Speedtop interiors are based on the 8-Series cabin but covered here with what must be one of the most elegant-looking leather-trimmed auto environments we’ve seen. If you’re a fan of super-busy cockpit designs with competing shapes and buttons galore, look elsewhere.
The driver of any modern BMW will recognize the sensible layout and controls, and we think most will welcome the round steering wheel. (Why are some carmakers trying to square the wheel?) The center spine going over the roof has an LED light strip companion inside the Speedtop’s headliner. It’s clever and functional.
Kudos to BMW for stretching itself into the realm of modern, limited coachbuilding. You may have to wait for near-future auctions to get a Speedtop or Skytop, but with any luck, these designs might inform future BMW regular production models.
We’re looking forward to BMW continuing this new trend at next year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
Premier Financial Services is not a licensed dealer and is not otherwise sponsored or endorsed by, or affiliated with BMW AG, Ferrari S.p.A., or Aston Martin.
