Zagato Concept surprise at Pebble Beach confirms it to be a roadster

Created in just six weeks’ worth of lavish handcraftsmanship, the BMW Zagato Roadster represents another masterful example of the traditional coachbuilder’s art and an elegant take on the sporty, masculine marker laid down by the BMW Zagato Coupe.

A low-set kidney grille, complete with intricate z-design grating, as well as focused twin circular headlights and a three-dimensional front apron shape the expressive face of the BMW Zagato Roadster, as they do the front end of the Coupe. It is this area of the car that provides the stylistic link between the two models, giving them a clear identity, reflecting their family ties and, at the same time, making them easily recognisable.

Sitting low between the headlights is Zagato’s take on the BMW kidney grille, featuring matt kidney surrounds. A stand-out detail here – and one shared with the BMW Zagato Coupe - is the use of a large number of small matt-sheen Zagato “Z” letters to make up the kidney grating. This arrangement injects added depth into the grating and lays on a high-quality accent for the front end.

The open-top nature of a roadster means it is often the interior that catches the eye first. Only later does your attention move on to the exterior and the interplay between the exterior and interior. The BMW Zagato Roadster zeroes in on this peculiarity and consciously allows the boundaries between inside and outside to blur.

The interior itself boasts the clear structuring you would expect from BMW and invites the driver to give the machine around him a thorough workout. Details such as the sweeping horizontal lines along the inside of the doors and the full-length centre console lend a rarefied sense of exclusivity to the sporty promptings and driver focus of the interior.

The decision to launch another collaboration between BMW and Italian coachbuilder Zagato was made only a short time after the BMW Zagato Coupe took its first bow. Encouraged by the positive reaction to the Coupe, Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design, and Andrea Zagato soon agreed to take their partnership a step further. On the menu this time would be a Roadster model. "We set ourselves the challenge of preparing the car in time for the renowned Pebble Beach Concours," explains van Hooydonk. The BMW Zagato Roadster was duly conjured up in record haste, with only six weeks separating the first design idea from the finished model. "It was only with the expertise of both companies in the manufacture of high-end one-off cars and another display of outstanding teamwork that we were able to finish the car on schedule," adds the BMW design supremo.