Pebble Beach: Zagato Z4 flips wig

The BMW Zagato Coupe unveiled at Italy’s Villa d’Este in May was not just a flash in the pan. Now the German-Italian duo has teamed up to reveal the BMW Zagato Roadster at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California over the weekend.

BMW said the one-off coach-built sportscar was developed in just six weeks following positive reaction to the Zagato Coupe’s reveal in Italy less than three months ago.

“We set ourselves the challenge of preparing the car in time for the renowned Pebble Beach Concours,” said the Senior Vice-President of BMW Group Design Adrian van Hooydonk.

“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.”

Apart from the lack of a fixed-roof – like the Z4 roadster upon which it’s based – the BMW Zagato Roadster is identical to its coupe namesake except for special grey paint that appears to change from dark charcoal to light silver. That means it scores the same reprofiled headlights and low-set kidney grille with Z-pattern mesh, but at the rear Zagato has echoed the coupe’s signature double-bubble roof shape to the convertible’s rear deck.

BMW said the car’s prominent forward-inclined, leather-clad rollover bars were inspired by the shape of an aircraft wing, while the propeller-style five-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels are another nod to the aircraft heritage of both BMW and Zagato.

No other technical details have been released, but the standard Z4 sDrive35is is powered by a turbocharged 250kW/450Nm 3.0-litre straight petrol six that accelerates the topless two-door to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds.

The BMW Zagato Coupe was the first collaboration between the two companies since the Giugiaro-designed M1 coupe of 1978 and the roadster could be the second in a series of new joint ventures. Both models are officially one-off concepts, but Zagato is understood to be considering a limited production run if it can justify a pricetag high enough to establish a business case.

Some reports also suggest the existence of both coupe and roadster versions of the Z4-based concept indicate BMW’s next-generation two-seat sportscar will – like the original Z4 – be offered in both coupe and roadster guise, rather than in just one folding hard-top version as with the existing E89 model.

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