BMW’s gorgeous Speedtop is heading toward production, but before wealthy collectors tuck them away in climate-controlled garages beside vintage Rolex displays and expensive speedboats, BMW’s engineers are making sure the big shooting brake can survive a proper workout at the Nurburgring.
Spy photographers caught the ultra-exclusive long-roof prototype lapping the German circuit wearing BMW’s familiar swirly camouflage wrap, though there’s no hiding the car’s dramatic proportions, or its elegant details. The stretched roofline, tiny fin-style door handles, and ultra-slim rear lights all remain intact from the Speedtop shown at Villa d’Este last May.
More: What If BMW Made An SUV From Its Speedtop?
The Speedtop looks incredibly elegant and there are even some visual parallels with the new Vision Alpina coupe revealed last week. Ironically, the front end already feels slightly old fashioned in the Neue Klasse era, though it should look more distinctive once the camouflage disappears and reveals the hood’s raised center spine. That detail continues along the roof before tapering neatly into the tailgate, helping visually tie the whole shape together.
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The spy photo crew said the Speedtop looked perfectly happy hammering around the Ring, even though few owners are ever likely to drive theirs anywhere near this aggressively. Cars like this tend to spend more time under soft indoor lighting at concours events than clipping apexes at full throttle. But BMW still has to make sure its supercar-priced coachbuilt special behaves like a proper modern GT. And, of course, Ring testing is as much about durability as it is handling.
That it didn’t fall apart on the Nordschleife shouldn’t be difficult to believe given what’s underneath. The Speedtop rides on BMW’s familiar 8-Series architecture and is expected to use the same twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 found in the M8 Competition. Output should be in the region of 617 hp (625 PS), which is sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
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When BMW first revealed the wagon brother to 2024’s Skytop convertible, it described the Speedtop as an exclusive three-door interpretation of a BMW Touring. The production car stays remarkably faithful to that original vision, complete with its two-seat interior layout and luxurious luggage-focused cabin.
BMW even developed custom bags with Schedoni, the people who craft Ferrari’s lugage sets. It’s the kind of touch owners expect when they’re parting with in excees of €500,000+ (over $580,000 at current exchange rates) for a coachbuilt car.
Production will reportedly be capped at just 70 examples worldwide, with deliveries expected in 2027. None are planned for America, which probably won’t stop one or two wealthy collectors there from trying anyway.
