Gallery: BMW Zagato Roadster
2012-08-20 12:07
ITALIAN FINESSE MEETS BAVARIAN ROADSTER: Only six weeks in the making, the new BMW Zagato Roadster is another successful colloboration between the German and Italian automakers.
Gallery
BMW unveiled a once-off concept at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este classic car show in Italy. Check out the new BMW Zagato coupe!
Barely three months after the premiere of the BMW Zagato Coupé, the Italian and German automakers are turning heads again at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with their latest collaboration.
Encouraged by positive reactions to the Coupé, Adrian van Hooydonk, senior vice president of BMW Group Design and Andrea Zagato agreed to take their partnership a step further.
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The Roadster was duly conjured up in record haste, with only six weeks separating the first design idea from the final production model.
WEEKS IN THE MAKING
Van Hooydonk said: “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.”
BMW and Zagato can both look back on a long and successful tradition of building roadsters, and the latest drop-top sees their respective design DNAs meshing to create another stunning model.
Zagato chief designer Norihiko Harada said: “This car is not designed only as an elegant convertible, but also as a masculine and extremely dynamic sports car which evokes a powerful driving experience”,
The car’s proportions hint at a performance-tweaked model though BMW is still tight lipped regarding engine specifications.
DISTINCTIVE FRONT-END
Overall, the BMW Zagato Roadster’s front end is very assertive and features the automaker’s “razorlight” - an LED strip set into the surface above the headlights.
Sitting low between the headlights is Zagato’s take on the BMW kidney grille, featuring matt surrounds. Much like the the Coupé the roadster sports a large number of small matt-sheen Zagato “Z” letters to make up the kidney grating.
The tail end places greater emphasis on elegance than that of the Coupé, which shows sharper edges. The Roadster’s lines are smoother at the low-slung rear.
The Roadster sports the hallmark Zagato double-bubble roof in the soft-top cover. The “doppia gobba” or roof domes are a signature feature of Zagato design and can be found on almost every Zagato car.
Like its Coupé counterpart, the Roadster’s rear lights are arranged behind black tinted glass.
The interior is finished in brown with metal highlights. Brown leather is used throughout the cabin, instrumentation, door sills and on the roll-over bars. A brown “Z” is embroidered into the seats.
The new model rides on 19-inch light-alloy wheels in a sporty five-spoke design.
