Here’s my thesis up front: If I could spend $500,000 on a modern BMW delight, I would buy the Speedtop – not because the Skytop isn’t great, but because the Speedtop is the “BMW” BMW. It’s the one that turns nostalgia into something you can actually use, the one that carries the brand’s weird, wonderful touring DNA into the present, and the one that feels like a statement of what BMW still understands: the sweet spot between emotion and function.
And yes – before anyone says it – this is a ridiculous problem. Half a million dollars for an essentially handmade, extremely limited M8-based love letter? It is the pinnacle of modern car culture. But that’s also why this debate is worth it. Because if BMW builds rolling sculptures for the one percent of the one percent, that should still mean something to the identity of the brand that the rest of us live with.
So: Skytop or Speedtop – which would you buy if you had $500,000? I have my answer. But I will also stand up for the other side because they deserve it.
The Skytop Dilemma: The Romantic Object
I can already hear the counterargument – because it is strong. The Skytop is the more romantic object. It’s open, rather jewel-like, and finished in a distinctive color that you won’t find on any current BMW lot. BMW even positions it as a homage to legendary roadsters like the 507 and Z8, which shows exactly what emotions they convey: tradition, glamor and the slightly irrational feeling you get when a car looks too good to be real.
BMW leans heavily into this aura: the Skytop is limited to 50 units, period. And it’s not just pretty – it’s got plenty of muscle too, reportedly using the 617hp twin-turbo V8 from the M8 Competition, the kind of powertrain that makes a big GT feel like it has a private afterburner.
If your definition of “$500,000 BMW” is the ultimate lakefront fantasy, the Skytop is basically a gaming cheat code. It is designed to be photographed and driven at golden hour as if you were the stars in your own short film. The top is part of the theater; The point is the exposure – the sky, the sound, the occasion.
But this is where I start to resist the Skytop – and this is where the Speedtop starts to win me over.
Why the Speedtop
$500,000 doesn’t buy transportation. You are buying a statement.
This is not a rational purchase. Period. And when you look at it that way, the Speedtop has the stronger argument: It not only looks like a dream, but behaves like one you can actually live with. It has a shooting brake silhouette, a luggage-oriented tail and is quite practical. It’s limited to 70 examples, which still puts it deep in unicorn territory, but also suggests that BMW understands the demand for a slightly more user-friendly kind of exotica. And like the Skytop, the Speedtop is also powered by a V8.
“Dream” vs. “Dream You Would Actually Use”
When I look at Speedtop vs. Skytop, I don’t just see two beautiful toys. I see two different versions of the soul of BMW:
- Skytop is BMW as a romantic design house: the 507/Z8 line, pure enjoyment, the car as an art object.
- Speedtop is the BMW enthusiast brand: slightly bizarre, strange in the best sense of the word and yet functional – the shooting brake spirit has become a collector’s item.
So if you live in an area with constant sunlight, the Skytop would be the obvious choice. Just as sexy and sophisticated as the Speedtop, it’s even more limited – to 20 examples – and it’s the one that opened the doors for highly limited editions from BMW. Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either option, but if money is no object, it would be the Speedtop for me. While BMW has plenty of open-top convertibles, Shooting Brakes are far rarer and in an era of SUVs and long sedans, this one will certainly stand out.
Which one would you buy?
But what about you – Skytop or Speedtop? Would you embrace the open-top romance and one-on-one atmosphere, or the swagger and promise of a weekend you’ll actually take advantage of?
