The look and feel of BMW's new Z4 Roadster has had a woman's touch. From two women, in fact.
The new Z4's sharp and aggressive exterior was designed by Juliane Blasi, while the edgy, driver-oriented interior was styled by Nadya Arnaout. Both women are in their 30s.
BMW held a competition to find designers for the new Z4, which stands as the replacement for both the previous Coupe and Roadster models.
The company took candidates from both its headquarters in Munich and the DesignworksUSA studio and asked stylists to submit sketches and eventually full-size clay models. The submissions were made anonymously to ensure fair judging.
In an interview with the New York Times before the Z4's unveiling at the Detroit motor show Blasi said: "You should not be able to see whether it was designed by a woman or a man".
Blasi told the NY Times that styling around the Roadster's retractable hard top roof was particularly challenging, as the aim was to maintain coupe looks when the roof was up, but also to uphold the "classic roadster" form of long bonnet and short rear.
"Normally, it's hard to hide a retractable hardtop in the trunk and still have the roadster proportions, because it takes up more space than a fabric top," she said.
Arnaout's challenges included designing the interior with an asymmetrical console, having focus towards the driver rather than between both front passengers, and making it interchangeable for left and right-hand markets.
Arnaout revealed that her solution was to initially make the console symmetrical and later add a piece of trim on one side (depending on market) making it appear asymmetrical.
While the new Roadster is more serious looking, it's not necessarily more masculine. The bonnet is actually more sculpted and bulging than the previous model's version, and the rear has smooth, flowing lines with an upswept detail to the edges of the taillights.
Interior-wise the new Z4 is very neat and almost minimalist, with a view to more space and comfort. A 'Character' package adds high-end materials like Nappa leather and striking colour scheme in base (black and white) but classy tones.
New Head of Design for BMW, Adrian van Hooydonk said that reporters at the show in Detroit were surprised to be introduced to women after commenting how masculine and aggressive the new Z4 looked.
"I guess still a lot of people think that women can only design round shapes and soft shapes and fluffy stuff," he said. "And I know that's not true."
Images: BMWBlog.com