The Villa D’Este 2022 had many interesting vehicles on display but the title of the weirdest creation goes to the pictured example spotted in the parking lot by Helen Wakerley. This previous-generation BMW Z4 has been retrofitted with an Alfa Romeo grille, emblems and a matching set of phone-dial wheels, causing the car identification part of our brains to malfunction.

The yellow Z4 has been stripped from most of the signature BMW elements and trim pieces including the signature kidney grille. The lower intakes on the front bumper have retained their BMW M shape, but the situation is completely different in the center, where a black-scudetto grille has been transplanted from an Alfa Romeo Giulia.

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Photo Helen Wakerley

The end result looks very close to OEM quality, with regular-sized panel gaps and a nice paint finish on the bumper which retains the front parking sensors. Furthermore, the V-shaped dynamic lines on the long bonnet of the Z4 point towards the Alfa Romeo badge, and the angle of the headlights matches the sides of the scudetto grille. Frankly, most non-car people could easily mistake this mashup for a regular production model.

Moving over to the profile, the Alfa Romeo alloy wheels with a five-hole design look great on the RWD roadster proportions of the Z4, especially with the grey finish contrasting the bright yellow of the sculpted body and the red callipers. Finishing up the mods are the Alfa Romeo emblems on the fenders and a “Roadster” sticker with a fancy font.

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Photo Helen Wakerley

Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of the rear end, but we guess that a simple Alfa Romeo emblem and Spider lettering would do the job. While a Busso V6 engine would have been a fitting choice for this bespoke built, we seriously doubt there are any mechanical mods. It is unclear who or why would go to this extent of modifications in order to give their Z4 an Italian flavor, but it’s obvious that plenty of time, skills, and money were spent to achieve this result.

Mind you, a decade ago, Italian design house Zagato had presented their own take on the BMW Z4 in both coupe and roadster flavors, which came with a fully redesigned body and lighting units. Still, those were concept cars and came with regular BMW badges and a kidney grille.

The creation has us wondering what would you think if BMW partnered with Alfa Romeo for a new Spider? Judging from the reactions about the last generation BMW Z4 being closely related to the Toyota GR Supra, it’s probably a good thing that this Italian-German marriage only exists as a one-off custom build, but you can have your say in the comments below.

Thanks to Helen Wakerley for the photos!