BMW UNVEILS CONCEPT SPEEDTOP AT VILLA D’ESTE: A TOURING CAR REIMAGINED FOR INDULGENCE
Written By: Nathan Irvine
Unveiled at Villa d’Este, BMW’s Concept Speedtop turns the touring format into a design statement
Each May, on the banks of Lake Como, a curious ritual unfolds. Collectors, designers, and the sort of people whose watch collections require insurance brokers gather at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este to worship at the altar of beautiful machines. Among the concourse-classics and bespoke coachbuilds, BMW arrives each year with a concept so striking it temporarily makes everyone forget about pre- war Bentleys. This year, it’s the Concept Speedtop. And it’s superb.
Not just a design exercise or an auto-show gimmick, the Speedtop is headed for production – if 70 hand-built cars counts as ‘production’. It’s a reworking of the Touring format: three doors, no B-pillars, and a roofline that flows like it was drawn with a calligraphy pen. You could call it a shooting brake, but this one is more bullet than estate.
BMW calls it a “reinterpretation”, but it’s more accurate to say it’s a provocation. The Speedtop takes the workhorse sensibility of the Tourer and replaces it with something far more indulgent. It’s designed for two people, with just enough luggage space to suggest a weekend jaunt – probably to a vineyard, possibly by helicopter.
Courtesy of BMW
Courtesy of BMW
From the front, it’s all aggression: a shark-nosed grille, slim headlights, and the sort of stance usually reserved for low-flying aircraft. There’s a centerline spine that runs unbroken from bonnet to spoiler, giving the car a sense of tension even at rest – like it might leave scorch marks on the gravel if provoked.
The paintwork, meanwhile, fades from ‘Floating Sunstone Maroon’ to ‘Floating Sundown Silver’. Yes, the names are silly, but the effect is sublime. This isn’t a wrap or some Instagram stunt. It’s a controlled gradient across a hand- formed surface, the sort of detail you only notice once you’ve stopped muttering expletive- peppered platitudes under your breath.
The wheels – two-tone, 14-spoke, specifically designed for the car – round out the silhouette with the sort of polish usually reserved for concours trophies or sculpture gardens.
Courtesy of BMW
Courtesy of BMW
Courtesy of BMW
Inside, it’s more atelier than automobile. BMW has leaned hard into craftsmanship, pairing maroon and white leather in a two-tone arrangement that divides the cabin into dynamic and comfort zones. There’s brogue-style perforation, hand-finished detailing, and a roof spline that lights up like the world’s most expensive mood lamp.
The boot is leather-lined, lit, and divided – not for golf clubs or Labradors, but for bespoke luggage. Enter Schedoni, the Italian leather gods whose history includes making Ferrari’s fitted luggage in the 1970s. They’ve created custom bags just for the Speedtop: two small ones strapped behind the seats and a weekend holdall that nestles neatly in the rear. If you have to ask what they cost, this car isn’t aimed at you.
Powering all this elegance is BMW’s most powerful V8 engine. No hybrid nonsense, no eco-mode – just proper, old-school internal combustion with a boot full of torque. BMW hasn’t said exactly how powerful the engine is, but it’s likely to have between 600 and 700 horsepower – and it’ll sound amazing when you hear it roar from the exhaust.
This isn’t a car for cruising down Jumeirah Beach Road. It’s for finding an empty stretch of Ras Al Khaimah asphalt and discovering that, even in an era of electrified everything, there’s still room for a machine that simply wants to go fast and look brilliant doing it. Safely, and within the speed limits, mind.
BMW did this last year with the Skytop – a targa-top grand tourer that went down so well with collectors they built 50 of them. The Speedtop is following the same recipe: show up at Como, make everyone feel underdressed, then quietly offer it to those on the right list. This time, they’re making 70. And yes, they’re all spoken for already.
The Speedtop isn’t a glimpse of the future; it’s a reminder that car companies, even the big ones, can still do things for the sheer joy of it. No committees, no boardroom compromise – just a design team let off the leash. It’s a flex. And a good one.
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