BMW Z4 and 8 Series Concepts Share Pebble Beach Spotlight

It's rare for BMW to make two design studies at the same time, yet here are the Z4 and 8 Series looking equally exciting at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

I bet you're all eager to see real-life photos of the Z4. After all, its skin stretches over a joint venture with Toyota. The good news is that it's even better than we expected.

From the front, we're still blown away by the way the headlight halos are stacked one on top of the other to give the car a swept back look. The nose is slanted down, resembling the shark-like face you also see on some Aston Martins. The wing-like carbon diffuser in the middle is a new design element that will be seen on other Bimmers too.

What's surprising is that the Z4 prototype arrives on stage powered by an internal combustion engine, a four-cylinder with direct injection by the sound of it.

The interior is equally striking. You have one tan leather seat and half a dash, the other being black leather. This gives it a cockpit-like atmosphere and actually set BMW apart from BMW and Audi. Hopefully, they can put this crazy idea into production.

Also seen at Pebble Beach is the 8 Series Concept, which made its debut a few months ago at Villa d'Este. It's also a preview for a production car, the flagship coupe that will be based on the 7 Series platform. The two are different but also share a few design ideas.

For example, the two cars have much larger protruding grille when compared to the current BMW roster. The design lines are reduced to a minimum, but the gaping grilles and the subtle vents between the front fender and door can be seen. It' also interesting that they pulled a complete 180 from last year's Vision Next 100 concept.

Both vehicles will have product variants next year, and BMW North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt says they will look pretty close to what we see.