At the 2012 Concorso d’eleganza Villa d’este, BMW cars and Zagato coach builders debuted their ‘BMW Zagato Coupé’, combining iconic Zagato features like the double bubble roof and truncated rear proportions with the BMW’s signature roadster flanks, styled front face, and interior. Organized by BMW, the prestigious competition along the shores of Lake Como, Italy, awards elegance in classic and vintage cars, as well as offering a showcase for new vehicles.

Designed as a one-off concept but driveable and street legal, the ‘BMW Zagato Coupé’ features the glass split rear deck of the ‘Zagato’, with a streamlined, criss-crossed form created by the intersection of the side and rear windows. The tinted rear window can be opened, providing access to the luggage compartment. The grille mesh on the front of the car is a pattern of interlocked ‘Z’s, in which chrome pieces seem to float on a sea of darker-toned letters, matched by polished ‘Z’ details along the side of the car. Double air intakes are integrated into the bonnet, and the car features dual exhaust tips at its rear. Twin circular headlights and the kidney-shaped grille highlight BMW’s DNA in the car defined as a ‘BMW seen through the eyes of Zagato’.

Its chassis handcrafted and molded of aluminum sheet metal, the car features the specially-toned ‘Rosso Vivace’ paintwork which ranges from black to bright red depending on the way the light hits it, thanks to a multilayered paint job: black followed by shimmery metallic silver, followed by six thin coats of road and two layers of clear sealant.