BMW Zagato Roadster

BMW and Zagato decided that their initial collaboration on the Zagato Coupe, which debuted just three months ago at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, was so successful that an encore was called for.

The result is this, the Zagato Roadster, which was conceived, designed and produced in the remarkably short time of six weeks to be ready for its debut this weekend at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Perhaps the haste with which the Z4-based Zagato Roadster came into being doesn’t impress you because it is, after all, a droptop version of the Coupe, most of which has been carried over intact. There are, however, differences, particularly out back where the entire rear end required a redesign.

Truth be told, we favor the Roadster’s design a little more than the Coupe’s, which places so much of its visual mass over the rear axle.

The Roadster looks more balanced between its wheels, and those brown leather-wrapped roll bars are simply to die for.

BMW says that Zagato’s trademark double-bubble roof has even been preserved in the car’s silhouette with the roof in place, though has failed to supply us with any images as proof.

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