Barely three months after the sensational premiere of the BMW Zagato Coupé, BMW and Zagato are turning heads again at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with the fruits of their latest collaboration. 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 Coupé.
The decision to launch another collaboration between BMW and Italian coachbuilder Zagato was made only a short time after the BMW Zagato Coupé took its first bow. Encouraged by the positive reaction to the Coupé, 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.
Andrea Zagato picks up on the theme: “Our success in finishing the car in such a short space of time shows what is possible when two successful companies pool their resources” says Zagato. “BMW is a high-achieving carmaker boasting a vast well of knowledge and technical capability in this area. When you combine that with our expertise in the creation of micro-series cars and our streamlined production processes, everything is in place to produce a beautiful model like the BMW Zagato Roadster in double-quick time”. More details to come.
