Two BMW Skytops have been photographed together under the same roof at a high-end detailing studio in Dubai, a pairing so uncommon that it offers one of the clearest looks yet at a model capped at just 50 units worldwide. The images, shared by Topaz Detailing, show the ultra-exclusive targas side by side, and the workshop also holds a third example that is said to be the first Skytop to reach the United Kingdom.
According to the source material, buyers in the United Arab Emirates ordered the two cars on display in Dubai. BMW is reported to have charged roughly €500,000 per car, which would put the value of the pair at about €1 million. Both are built on the M8 Competition chassis, a donor platform that is no longer in production but continues to live on through this limited-run series.
The Skytop was conceived as a rolling design statement rather than a volume model. Its two-seat cabin, slim lighting elements, distinctive rear deck and removable targa roof set it apart from the M8 on which it is based, giving it a character that the standard car does not offer. All 50 examples are said to share an identical specification and closely mirror the namesake concept shown a couple of years ago at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
That uniformity is part of the appeal for collectors. With production limited to 50 cars, most enthusiasts will never encounter a Skytop in person, let alone two parked next to each other. The model is already shaping up to be one of those machines that becomes harder to spot over time, as owners tuck their cars away in private collections and wait for values to appreciate.
The Dubai sighting is notable for another reason. No Skytop production car has yet been seen with a right-hand-drive layout, and the third car in the Topaz workshop, described as the first to arrive in the UK, is also left-hand drive. That detail underscores how the small-series programme is being handled: a single global specification, built in strictly limited numbers, rather than a model adapted to individual markets.
BMW has already followed the Skytop with the nearly as exclusive Speedtop, and the German luxury automaker has described these strictly limited small-series models as a way to create desirability among collectors and connoisseurs. The strategy appears to be working. Both the Skytop and the Speedtop were instant hits among BMW's wealthiest clientele, which likely gives executives more confidence to approve similar low-volume projects in the future.
There is also a question of what comes next. With ALPINA now sitting under the BMW Group umbrella, expectations are growing for more special cars in the mold of the Skytop and Speedtop. The Vision BMW ALPINA Coupe, also based on an M8, is not going into production, but the product portfolio is seen as missing a V8 coupe. Whether the answer comes from BMW or from BMW ALPINA, that gap is likely to be addressed sooner rather than later.
For now, the Dubai photographs serve as a reminder of how unusual the Skytop remains. Two cars worth roughly €1 million combined, sharing a workshop floor in a city known for its appetite for rare machinery, is a sight that few will ever see in person. As the 50-car run disperses into private garages around the world, such gatherings are likely to become rarer still.