Well this is an odd looking car isn’t it. The standard, current generation Z4 is not a bad looking car, however it has always seemed too long and a bit awkward. So how do you reckon making an already awkward car even more awkward can happen? Oh yes that would be the job of Zagato.
Zagato have always made strange looking cars, no question about it. Sometimes their madness pays off (Alfa Junior Z, Lancia Hyena, Lancia Fulvia Sport, Alfa Giuletta SZ), although it seems lately that everything they make sort of looks like a parody of the ‘old-school’ Zagato designs.
So Zagato have now rebodied a Z4 into what is know known as a BMW Zagato Coupe. I think it looks pretty subpar, if i’m honest…and I find the BMW-Zagato connection to be a little strange. That being said….it IS interesting—-although I think the previous generation Z4 Coupe would rather accomplish all of this in a far more attractive manner.
In the old days, these sorts of awkward body styles really did work—mainly because the bumpers were not ‘integrated’ as they are now, and the wheels weren’t absurdly large and bulky like they are today.
the BMW Zagato Coupe is debut’ing at this year’s Villa D’Esta.
the sketches actually looked pretty promising…
here’s a video discussing the idea and design of the car:
src: BMW
IEDEI 
I like it better than the Z4 coupe. The side lines of this are much better in my opinon.
interesting…to me the last Z4 Coupe was very nicely done….
I dunno Syed. I mean Zagato hasn’t done a really great looking car in decades. Maybe they oughta be cut a few kilometres of slack for this one while they try to get back in the groove.One problem I see with the car (and something that’s sadly endemic with far too many of today’s designers) is they didn’t seem to know when to lift the pen and stop designing.
Mind you the ‘donor’ Z4 is rather poxy in it’s own Germanic way.
do agree….the overstyling here does scream “trying too hard”! I don’t reckon BMW and Zagato have ever really collaborated, correct?
Ya I agree that the looks are somewhat unconventional/strange, nothing like the shapely Aston Martin Vantage Zagato. Anyhow, I do like this idea a lot. I think more car manufacturers should take one or two models from their range to be re-bodied by coach builders like Zagato, Bertone, Giugiaro, etc. and sold in a limited edition run. It’s like buying a suit off the rack vs. getting one tailor made using the brand’s own fabric. Of course, suits are made to measure, which simply cannot be done with cars on that kind of scale, however, the discerning eye will notice the difference between a tailored Armani suit and one that came off the rack: style. That and look how much the high end car companies are pushing for personalization: colours, interior, fabrics, materials, etc. Why not have a limited run where the body panels get some high design too?? Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a bespoke coach builder like Zagato touch a car in the 50-60K range, excluding those who designed for mass production. This could be saying something here, there’s a market of customers who prefer coach built cars and are willing to pay a premium. If they could re-body a Z4 for 10-15k, that would be really interesting. Final assembly in Italy?? haha
Gilberto—–they did work on the Fiat 500 and came up with a Zagato bodied ‘coupe’ concept last year…..it actually looked pretty decent…i wish the standard 500 looked more like that.
That’s right… but I don’t think they ever planned on putting that into production. Anyhow, I have some news on the Zagato Z4. Should have a post up later on tonight.
I’ll be at Villa d’Este tomorrow and will inquire…
nice! look forward to seeing your photos!
Just nit-picking here: I couldn’t help but notice that while the Zagato Z4 sketches were cited as pretty promising, the produced car was described as looking subpar despite being – as far as I can tell – extremely faithful the artist’s intended stylings.
I agree the sketches look great….but the real thing has pretty odd proportions and a lot of overhang!
butthe worst part about it is all the overstyling….as BWOB said above….it’s like they didn’t know when to stop