The BMW Z8: A Legendary Roadster

The BMW Z8 is a roadster that belongs to an era of exclusivity and sophistication. It was designed by Scott Lempert, who aimed to create a car that looked super clean and vintage. The engineers at BMW came up with clever ways to hide or combine controls, ensuring that the driver's focus remained on the road ahead. The gauges were placed in the center of the dashboard, making them less distracting.

The BMW Z8 was part of a limited production run with 5703 cars made over four years. Its engine was a (beep) V8, and it came with a stick shift, making it a desirable car for many enthusiasts. The roadster's performance was impressive, and its luxurious interior added to its appeal. When the Z8 first hit the market, it started at $129,000, but prices quickly escalated due to high demand.

One of the most interesting aspects of the BMW Z8 is its relationship with Alpina. In its final year of production, the car became the Alpina Roadster V8. BMW sent 555 Roadsters to Alpina for customization, where they were modified by the renowned tuning company. The engine was replaced with a 4.8-liter M62 V8 from the X5 SUV, producing 375 horsepower. However, this was 20 horsepower less than the original Z8. The car also received an automatic transmission instead of the six-speed manual, which made it more suitable for grand tourers.

The Alpina Roadster was sold through BMW dealerships for $137,000, making it a highly sought-after car. Today, it can be found on the used market for around $200,000. Its value has only appreciated over time, making it a wise investment for collectors and enthusiasts. The BMW Z8 is a car that is both stylish and powerful, and its legacy continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts.

The car's design was inspired by its exterior tail lights, which were not LED but rather neon tubes. The car's interior was designed to be clean and vintage, with the gauges placed in the center of the dashboard. The BMW engineers also came up with clever ways to hide or combine controls, ensuring that the driver's focus remained on the road ahead.

The car's exterior design was sleek and sporty, with a low-slung stance that made it look fast even when stationary. The Z8 was equipped with large tail lights and turn signals, which added to its aggressive appearance. However, despite its bold exterior, the car was designed to be comfortable and relaxing to drive.

The BMW Z8 is a car that is steeped in history and heritage. Its production run was limited, making it a rare and exclusive car. The Alpina version of the Z8 is particularly sought after by collectors, thanks to its unique styling and performance. Today, the BMW Z8 is a highly valuable car that continues to inspire new generations of enthusiasts.

As a halo car, the BMW Z8 was designed to showcase the company's engineering prowess and style. Its success helped establish BMW as a major player in the sports car market. The car's legacy continues to be celebrated by enthusiasts around the world, who appreciate its unique combination of performance, style, and exclusivity.

The BMW Z8 is also notable for its impact on the automotive industry. It was one of the first cars to demonstrate the potential of German engineering and design. Its influence can still be seen in many modern sports cars, which continue to draw inspiration from its sleek lines and powerful engine.

In conclusion, the BMW Z8 is a legendary roadster that continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts. Its unique combination of performance, style, and exclusivity has made it a highly sought-after car among collectors and enthusiasts. Its legacy continues to be celebrated by BMW aficionados around the world, who appreciate its contributions to the automotive industry.

The Z8 Forum is full of enthusiasts who geek out over their cars with long-winded posts, production information, pictures, and links to old car reviews. They are the future versions of all of us, and we totally used it to research this episode. So thanks, old guys, for your dedication to the BMW Z8.

The Alpina Roadster V8 is a testament to the company's engineering prowess and design sensibility. The car's unique styling and performance have made it a sought-after model among collectors and enthusiasts. Its value has only appreciated over time, making it a wise investment for anyone looking to own a piece of automotive history.

As a final note, the BMW Z8 is a car that will continue to be celebrated by enthusiasts around the world. Its legacy continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts, who appreciate its unique combination of performance, style, and exclusivity. Whether you're a seasoned collector or just starting out on your car journey, the BMW Z8 is a car that is sure to leave a lasting impression.

So if you're an old dude like me who's been around cars for a while, I'm sure you'll agree with me: the BMW Z8 is a legend that deserves to be celebrated. Its unique styling and performance have made it a highly sought-after car among collectors and enthusiasts, and its legacy continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts.

And finally, if you're an enthusiast who's looking for a car that will challenge your driving skills and leave you in awe of German engineering, look no further than the BMW Z8. It's a car that's steeped in history and heritage, with a design that's both stylish and aggressive. Its performance is exceptional, making it a joy to drive on both twisty roads and long straightaways.

In short, the BMW Z8 is a car that embodies everything we love about cars: style, performance, and exclusivity. It's a legend that deserves to be celebrated, and its legacy continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts around the world.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engine revving)- Your parents, Deb andChip, love this car.In fact, every boomer doesbecause boomers love expensive stuff,because they're the only peoplewith any freakin' money these days.You know who else has money?Freakin' James Bond, the original cool guyand he gave up his AstonMartin for one of these.It was probably the best exampleof modern retro ever made,so stick around because in this episodewe're gonna find out how BMW plottedto make an instant classicfrom the very beginning.(engine revving)(tires screeching)(engine revving)This is everything you need to knowto get up to speed on the BMW Zate.What, oh Z8?Oh, yeah that makes more sense.Z8, I'm just kidding I'mshootin' this in my garage.There's no one here.Cue dat music.(video game music)- Three, two, one.- I wanna give a big shoutout to this week's sponsor,thanks a lot Vitagoods.As a lot of you guysknow, I had a heart scareabout six months ago,I had a heart attack.Because of that, I've madea lot of lifestyle changesincluding exercise and my diet.And it's hard stayinghealthy in a time like this.You can't really go outside that muchand you gotta cook all thefood that's in your house.So, thanks to the VitagoodsDigital Body Analyzer.I know my body better thanever and I can keep track of itin the way that I need to.And this thing is not just a scale.It does so much more than that.It can tell me my weightwhich is important,my body fat percentage, my muscle mass,and even my bone densitywhich I don't necessarily needto know for my heart,but I do like knowinghow many bones I have.It's super easy to use.It doesn't take up much space.It looks just like a scale,and it does so much morethan just weigh me.Take it from me, this is alot easier than I thought.If you look at old videosof me, I was soaking wetand sweating in every episode.Now, the only reason I'msweating is because I'm shootingin my garage and it's 120 degrees in here.And I want you guys to get healthier,so there's a link downin the description below.You can get a digital bodyanalyzer like mine for 60% off.The discounts for stuffand our sponsorshipsusually aren't this much.These guys are really hooking it up.Thanks a lot, Vitagoods.And guys, let's get healthy together.Now back to the show.The story of one of BMW's most unique carsstarts with one of its biggest failures.Now lucky for us that didn't stop themfrom taking another crack at it.It was based on a 40 year old carand even now at 20 years old, it's stillliterally does not look dated at all.BMW planned to turn itinto a modern collector's car all along,so how did they pull that off?Now the original idea for this carhad been bouncing around BMW for a while.So in 1993, the BWM boardwas in Saint-Tropez.The head of the board,Eberhard von Kuenheimwas about to retire so all of his buddiesbrought BMWs from each of the yearsthat he had worked there.One guy, though, the head of developmentbrought a BMW 507,which technically wasn'tfrom one of those years.But the 507 turned out tobe everyone's favorite carto drive and this group ofguys was the board of BMWsso they were allowed totell BMW what to make.So they decided hey,we should make a modern version of this.So they left Saint-Tropezand went back to Germanyand told the head of designto get his department startedon drawing up some concept car ideas.That head of design was Chris Bangleand when he asked histeam who wanted to do it,a dude named HenrikFisker raised his hand.- Hime.- Now you've probably heardof both Bangle and Fisker.Yeah, that Fisker.And we're gonna get into the Z8,it's a pretty cool story,but before we get into thatwe have to understand this beautiful 507that inspired the boardmembers to have it drawn up.And to do that, we have to go back(rewinding tape)in time.The 507 was one of the most beautifuland unsuccessful BMWs ever made.In 1954 a dude named Max Hoffmanwho was a luxury importerin New York saw a gap inthe sports car market.He thought that there wasroom for something newbetween MGs and Triumphs andthe pricier Mercedes 300SLso he somehow convincedBMW to build a car.Albrecht Von Goertz designed the curvy,hand-formed aluminum body,and 11 of 'em got handmaderemovable hardtops.Now the tops are so unique to each carthat they can't be put on one another.They only fit the car they were built to.They look incredible.They had double wishbone front suspensionand a 3.2 liter V8 under the hood in 1954.How is this not a huge success?It's like I always say, man.Mo' money, mo' problems.Give daddy some sugar.(pecking kiss)The new sports car wasprojected to cost $5,000 dollarsin 1956 and BMW thought they'dsell 5,000 of them per year,but it was twice as expensiveto build as they expectedand it ended up going on salefor $10,000 dollars instead.That's almost 90 grand todayand was a much tougher sell back then.BMW only built 252 of 'em over four yearsand lost money on every single one.Several famous people have507s but unfortunately,it didn't really helpBMW sell enough of 'em.Elvis Presley drove two BMW 507s.When he was stationed inGermany with the US Army,he leased a used white one with a hardtop,the same one racing legendHans Stuck had actually raced.Now Elvis actually thoughtthat he was buying the car,not just leasing it,but he couldn't read the German paperworkand no amount of swivelin'hips would change BMWs mindsabout the lease contract he signed.Anyway, 507s are super rareand now they sell for millionsand millions of dollars at fancy auctions.So when Henry Fisker starteddesigning a new interpretationof the 507, he had somepretty big shoes to fill.The modern retro styling fadwas just about to take offand we all know those turnedout pretty hit or miss,but when you're starting outwith a classic sports car's shapeit shouldn't be hard to not mess it up.And he didn't mess it up, like at all.I mean this is the guy who went onto design the Aston Martin V8Vantage and the Fisker Karma,so I think he knew a thing or twoabout drawing pretty cool cars.Just like buff ones, just look at that carand look at that car.They're both just muscly,muscle heads look like a sexy bulldog.The BMW Z07 concept stuckwith the classic long hoodand short rear deck.With the driver sittingcloser to the rear wheelsthan the front, it stayedtrue to the 507's designwhile also looking freshand unique in its own way.So you won't be shocked tohear that it was a huge hitat the 97 Tokyo MotorShow, mostly with the pressand old dudes, I'm guessing probably.It didn't have a lot of thewild one-off concept car stuffthat never makes it pastthe auto show circuit.So it looked very likely that the conceptand the real thing would be very similar.Prototypes were spotted testingfor years before it came out.(engine revving)(tires screeching)Engineers ran them withPorsche 911 Cabrioletson the Nurburgring.Remember those old paperbooks car lovers used to readin the 90s while droppin' a deuce?Magazines, right.They thought that a coupeversion might get madebut product planners thought that roadsterwould be more popular.When the production Z8came out for the year 2000,just about the only thingsthat didn't carry overfrom the concept car werethe hump behind the driverand the double bubble hardtop.Double, bubble, bubble,bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble.Now even the split five spokewheel design hardly changed,but the ultimate endorsement came directlyfrom the 507's original design.Mr. Albrecht Von Goertz saidthat if he designed the new carit would've looked just like the Z8.BMW freaks immediately, lost their pantsand couldn't wait toget their hands on one.(metal clanking)- Hugh's not gonna like this.- For maximum publicity, BMWmanaged to get James Bondout of an Aston Martin and into a Z8.The 19th '007 film,The World is Not Enoughcame out around the sametime as the new car.Convenient, but it hadto be shot way earlierthan the car's launch.So a bunch of pre-productionZ8 replicas were madeout of fiberglass and hadChevy 350 V8 crate motors.A fiberglass Z8 with an LS in it?Doesn't sound not cool.The real Z8 came with a 4.9 liter s62 V8that had recently debuted in the new M5with Vanos variable valvetiming, German VTech,394 very logical German horsepowerand 368 pound feat of twerks.It was the most powerful engine BMWhad ever put in a street car and nowit was in a two-seaterthat weighed way lessthan the sedan.(engine revving)That meant it was a bit quicker.It even turned out to be a bit quickerthan the Ferrari 360 Modena.You had no choice butto row your own gears,because a 6P manual wasthe only transmissionthat you could get andthey all had an LSD.BMW didn't compromise anywhere on the Z8.Convertibles couldnormally feel kinda floppycompared to coupes and sedans but the Z8was filled with 187 totalfeat of fully welded seamsand 1,000 rivets.That made it two times stifferthan any other convertiblesold at the time.(engine revving)The body and the chassiswere both alumininiumand the body panels boltedon so they'd be easy to fix.You know, if it got chopped in half.Every car also came with aremovable aluminum hardtopthat was designed to lookmore like it actually belongedon the car, not just a goofy metal hat.The tail lights and turnsignals weren't LEDsbut they were neon tubes.Even the white backuplight was somehow disguisedbehind a red lens when it was offto keep the rear end looking symmetrical.Guys, I'm a fan of tail lights.I own one project carand I have four setsof tail lights for it.And they didn't stop at the exterior,because the interior wasdesigned by Scott Lempertto look super clean and vintage.BMW engineers came up with clever waysto hide or combine controls.All of the gauges were in the centerso they wouldn't distract the driverfrom their view of the road.(engine revving)When you bought a Z8, yougot a lot for your moneybut you also had to spenda lot of your money.They started at 129kand went up from therenot because of extra options,but because dealers marked them up.If the Z8 was on sale todayit would cost 195 grand.You can get a Porsche911 that performs betterin every way for less than that now,but it just doesn't havethat same era of exclusivitythat the Z8 still does.Everyone knew they weregoing to be collectiblefrom the start.A low-production roadster with a (beep) V8and a stick shift from thelegendary German manufacturer?It was a no brainer.On the used market,they've never dropped muchbelow $70 thousand dollarsand now you can barelyfind one for less than 150.The Z8 was a limited productionrun with 5703 cars madeover four years.This thing (beep), man.(engine revving)A sporty, luxurious, German roadsterwith tons of horsepower?Hell yeah, when I get to be an old manand have a bunch of moneysign me the freak up.The Z8 Forum is full ofold dudes geeking outabout their cars with tonsof super long winded posts,production info, pictures,and links to old car reviews.They're the future versions of all of usand we totally used itto research this episode.So thanks old guys.For their final year of production,the Z8 became the Alpina Roadster V8.BMW sent 555 Roadsters overto their famous tuning friendsat Alpina for customization.Now Alpina is usually knownfor kickin' things up a few notchesbut this time they respected the carand didn't go too crazy.Now, originally it wasrumored that these carswere gonna have a V12 put into 'em,but the 12 wouldn't fit.God, never anything sadderin my freakin' life.So the M5 engine was replacedwith the 4.8 liter M62 V8from the X5 SUV.Alpina bumped it up to 375 horsepowerwhich was actuallyabout 20 horsepower lessthan the original Z8.But they also gave it more torque.It made 15 more pound feat in it kicked inin lower revs, too.The extra low end gruntsuited the Roadster's bettersince they were mostlyused as grand tourersand not pure sports cars.Another thing that was bettersuited to the GT Cruiserwas an automatic.So, the six-speed manual was ditchedfor a manually shifted five-speed auto.Maybe that's why the USgot 450 of the 555 Alpinasbut less than half of the regular Z8s.Because we like automatics, I guess?They added huge 20 inch wheelswith Alpina's signature,multi-spoke design and its suspensionwas softened for a more relaxing ride.You know, for those old man backs.Roadsters were sold through BMW dealersfor 137 grand making itthe first time Alpinaswere officially availablein North America.And today, they'll usually sellfor around $200 thousand dollars.Now as a halo car, the BMWZ8 was a remarkable one.Can you imagine howthe BMW I8 is gonna agecompared to the Z8?(sirens wailing)Hey guys, we've workedreally hard in the pastto provide you with a bunchof really cool shirt options,this one included.But up until this pointI want to apologizebecause we've left yourlegs out of the mix.Out of the mix.And I don't wanna leaveanyone out of the mix.We're all about community here,so starting now we have Donut.(error dinging)(error dinging)All right, dude.How do you switch in regular?Sweatpants, they're so newthat I don't even have a pair.These are really high quality.We spent the extra dough on 'emand they're comparableto like our hoodies,but they're for your legs.They say "P.E." which standsfor Performance Education.I know, it's very funny and very cool.I came up with it myself.They're great in the car,they're great to sit aroundand play Zelda, ask my girlfriend.And they're great to youknow sit in your garageat your workbench and do conference callsand make videos alone.(chuckles)Ask me how I know.Go to DonutMedia.com.Cop yourself some.I can't wait to wear mine,I can't wait to see allof your pretty little buns wearin' yours.Thank you guys so muchfor watchin' this episodeof Up To Speed.If you haven't already,hit that subscribe buttonand hit the bell.It's the best way for us toknow that we're doing welland you'll be notified everytime we uplaod a new video.That is very helpful now.We have a show every dayof the week now on Donutand I host three of 'em, baby.We have new merch available now.Boost Creep shirts are live.This is the coolest shirt we've ever made.Make 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