BMW Zagato Coupe (2012): first official pictures

This is Zagato's take on a modern Bavarian sports car: the BMW Zagato Coupe, based on the Z4. Handcrafted as a one-off by the famous Milanese coachbuilders, it takes pride of place at the Villa d'Este Concours in Italy.

No standard BMW surface has been left untouched by the hand of Zagato in creating this special concept. The typical Zagato cues of a double-bubble roof, glassy split rear deck and wider grilles all feature, while there are also unique touches in the shape of  Z-festooned kidney grilles and bespoke alloy wheels, very similiar in design to the five-spoke items found on the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

Sculpted rear haunches and an aggressive side grille add visual dynamicism, as do the Zagato's new dual exhaust tips and quasi-diffuser arrangement. On the inside, a familar Z4 interior boasts red highlights on the doors, and trademark 'Z' insignia on the headrests picked out in red stitching.

Not exactly. Given that BMW's current Z4 has a best-of-both-worlds folding hard top, BMW has refused to confirm it will produce a follow-up to the popular fixed head version of the previous-gen car.

The Zagato Coupe, despite its styling linearity with the 2006 Z4M Coupe, is ostensibly a styling concept with no official word on its underpinnings or mehanical updates.

Perhaps, though don't forget that Zagato has previous when it comes to production versions of supposedly one-off concepts. Earlier this year Aston Martin comissioned a limited run of V12 Zagatos following positive reaction to the initial concept car, with the finished road-going articles weighing in at £405,000, almost four times that of a regular V12 Vantage with identical performance.

Fingers crossed for a production BMW Zagato Coupe then, though to call one your own you'd have to expect a hefty premium over a £45,000 Z4 sDrive35is. Oligarchs and sheikhs, form a (dis)orderly queue.

By Ollie Kew