BMW Z8 | Cars under the hammer

The ’00s were full of reboots. Mercedes brought the Gullwing back with the SLS AMG, Ford revived the GT40 with more inches and fewer characters, and BMW relaunched the Mini as a not-so-mini hatchback. None were short on controversy, but because they all paid homage to some of the greatest cars in history their respective makers never had trouble shifting them.

That’s partly why people struggled to wrap their heads around the BMW Z8 when it arrived. Reboots weren’t really a thing in the late ’90s and the car the Z8 referenced, the 507, was relatively unknown as it’d been built for the US market 40-odd years prior and sold abysmally. Not exactly a solid foundation for a sales hit. But BMW styling chief Chris Bangle pressed on, putting Henrik Fisker on the case to come up with an exterior design for the firm’s new flagship roadster with the beautiful-yet-long-forgotten 507 as his muse.

While it may not have made much sense, the design Fisker came up with was truly spectacular. The horizontal kidney grilles, those elegant wing vents and the minimal rear are all references to the 507, as is the upright windscreen and an abundance of chrome. It looked entirely different to every other car in BMW’s lineup at the time, just as the 507 was in the late ’50s, with every visible service bespoke to the Z8. The same goes for the Scott Lempert-styled interior, which featured a unique steering wheel with retro wire spokes, a body colour dashboard with centrally mounted dials and switchgear that couldn’t be found on any other model. Reputedly, the only interior part shared with other BMWs was the CD changer. 

Just as unique was the aluminium spaceframe chassis, with MacPherson suspension struts and lower wishbones up front and a multi-link axle at the rear. The brakes were carried over from the 750i, while the 400hp, 4.9-litre V8 was lifted straight from the E39 M5 as it was the most powerful engine available to BMW at the time. All came with six-speed manual gearboxes, though a later Alpina version swapped it for a five-speed auto and ditched the V8 for the less powerful M62 motor. The car we have here may be running on Alpina wheels, but it’s a proper S62-engined Z8. Lovely.

Despite selling in reasonably high numbers, with almost half of the 5,703 total produced ending up in America, the Z8 struggled to win reviewers over here in the UK. Some found the ride too firm, probably owing to the run-flat tyres that didn’t work all that well with the suspension setup. The non-run flat Continentals on the car we have here suggest there’s some merit to the theory, as this Z8 glided over rough surfaces. It’s a grand tourer at the end of the day, one that thrives when driven at seven-tenths. Besides, you’ll often find yourself hanging back and dropping down a few gears just to hear that S62 V8 being pumped through the Supersprint exhaust. 

There’s no doubt the initial reviews, along with the left-hand drive only layout, put buyers off when the Z8 was new, with fewer than 150 coming to the UK. Of those, it’s believed fewer than 50 are registered on the road today, making the Z8 a rare find. Having spent a day with this car, it’s clear a great deal of care and attention has been put into it. The interior is as immaculate as the images suggest, while the original wheels – along with the ‘BM Z8 507’ plate – are included in the sale. Bond fan or not, it’s hard to not fall in love with the Z8 after five minutes of driving. But if you need a bit more convincing, take a look at the video we’ve put together and remember to turn the volume up…