2001 BMW Z8

The BMW Z8 made its first appearance in 1999, driven by a certain Mr. Bond in The World is Not Enough. It enjoyed approximately 14 minutes of screen time before being cut in half by a helicopter. Today, the cars are recognized as one of BMW’s high points of the last several decades, and have achieved collectible status only 15 years after they bowed.

Developed under the codename “E52” between 1993 and 1999, through the efforts of a design team led by Chris Bangle from 1993 to 1995. The exterior was designed by Henrik Fisker and the interior by Scott Lempert. The Z8 originally was designed as a styling exercise intended to evoke and celebrate the 1956–1959 BMW 507. With a similar front end and styling cues, and the car certainly lived up to that claim. Like its spiritual predecessor the two-seat convertible was a capable sports car, but also a refined gentleman’s express. Both cars had sleek and sinewy lines, without being extravagant.

The Z8 used the same 4.9-liter V-8 engine that was used in the M5. Using a DOHC and 32-valve setup to produce 394 hp, the engine gave the car swift acceleration and lots of top end speed. Period road tests showed the Z8 could sprint to 60 from a stop in less than the factory-reported time of 4.7 seconds, and the car could supposedly travel up to 170 mph if the electronically limited 155 mph was overcome. The Z8 was an ode to aluminum, underneath its hand-finished, alloy coachwork was an aluminum space frame. Inside you would find, bespoke milled switches, a beautifully textured shifter and, seamlessly integrated center-mounted gauges. The gauges were supposed to give the driver a distraction-free focus on the road ahead. In reality, they meant you had to actively look away to check your speed. Four-wheel independent suspension, disc brakes on all corners, a balanced 50/50 weight distribution, and a six-speed manual transmission on the spec sheet all emphasized that the Z8 was built for driving, and the car was confident when pushed on twisty roads and quick through the straights.