Class act from start go finish like most of his peers I suspect

Harry always reminds me of Whispering Bob Harris from The Old Grey Whistle Test, are they related

Don't forget Harry's farm as well

@AdrianSShole how many do you know, or is it simply an impression? 🤔

@@stevebluemed8163 Plenty can be seen on the internet, for example on instagram.. they are not exactly hard to find.

The new front end. Nope.

Yeah I've personally always really liked the Chris Bangle era models but I think even his detractors wish he'd make a comeback at BMW now with the direction they're headed.

@@demonstructie they literally look like Pixar designed the whole lineup.

@@demonstructie bangle started the toiletry

Yes it’s advantage is it does not look like a BMW more like a Jaguar.

I don’t think even you could make it better...;)..

@@seanhershey3390 But I would watch a video of him trying :P

This ...and no one Would think it looks old if they released today and its 2 decades old

Yes, its a stunning design when you compare it with the other Bangle era cars. Don't mention the abominations comprising BMW's current line up.

@@timcollins380 "Bangle butts">Dukec Bucks (buck teeth)

That and the 1998 Porsche 993 2S manual

Credit to Henrik Fisker, who has started a sustainable ev company once again.😎

@@leonardoluc6362 Nope

Yup, I reckon in a couple of generations they’ll do a full 360 and go back to timeless classic designs. Not this current crap designed simply to win over a certain demographic.

It pains me to say this, but after 14 BMWs in the family since 1969 (8 of my own), BMW design has lost my interest. I’m still driving an E46 330 Xi with 200K+ miles on the clock. They lost my interest after the E39 5 Series (had 2) and the E46. Nowadays the political climate and the current BMW management couldn’t introduce anything similar and still sell enough product to stay alive. Those who see the future cars anything like I do, will grab one of those ~20 year old examples and take really good care of them!

They won't because China is their main market nowadays and the hypermasculine design language in the modern BMW's with the aggressive designs, massive grills and logos sell really well there.

Absolutely...

​Yep. I had 2x E39, 2x E46 and an E91, over a two decade period from 2000 to this year. The E91 was okay but it was no E39, so after a few years I found a good 530i manual Touring, had it comprehensively refurbished and sold the E91 . They are getting harder to run though now as hard-used daily drivers, sadly. ABS controllers are a problem to source amongst other many parts.

Yes, shocking how blinkered some used to be (and still are in some cases) and still passes for journalism.

Exactly. I remember thinking the same thing about French journalists of the time. (I'm French) It seems none of them got what it was about. I wonder if BMW presentation of the Z8 to the press was not partly responsible for those expectations...

I have the same feeling about the Merc SLR. They missed the whole point of the car. I think cars that have dual personalities (GT car and hardcore sportscar) always get marked down for weird reasons.

Also to be fair to BMW (as someone who doesn't normally like them) it wasn't the first time the motoring journos and EVO managed to completely miss the bloody point over the years. There's been some clangers!

Automotive journalists who want everything with even a mild performance pedigree to be the road equivalent of a hard-core GT2 ring record shattering race car that would break your back and teeth at just sight of a bad road, have influenced the current market to be quite strange imo, the obsession with lap times at a track most buyers will never see is a bit silly, but bragging rights am I right, who needs ride quality when you can have uncomprimising powweerrrr and performance

Hahaha. Great story,

Guess he was too busy dodging gunfire from Elektra Kings people no doubt

Sawn in half? That needs some further explaining. Wrecked, stolen, burned out, flattened by falling masonry or even a grand piano maybe but sawn in half????

He wasn't the guy who destroyed his 7 series by trying to drive it around a car park with his phone was he? He really didn't have much luck with BMWs.

What do you mean by the car getting sawn in half?

Yeah, he's kept mighty quiet about that!

No I think that's a very logical thought considering it was a pretty limited production car. Plus it was modeled after the 507 which was already a classic long before the Z8 came out. I'd say BMW knew they were designing a future classic. 👍

Agree. At the time, I totally 'got' the 507 references. As that is among my all-time hero cars, the Z8 won my admiration from the start.

likewise

It is beautiful, the engine is trash unfortunately. BMW can't make a decent V8 to save themselves - I guess though when it's worth 200,000, pulling the engine out to get all the crappy engineering sorted out is no big deal.

What sounds stupid is you bothering to say.

Except it had a ride too stiff for a true GT cruiser, going on the words of journalists of the time. Pretty cool though.

dr.nefario stiff in the early 2000s is soft now. The “stiff” feeling ride is more because of the driver sitting so further back

@@roadhouseguy I doubt it was too stiff for what they were going for. That doesnt include hooning about on British B roads. It was a statement car, a BMW built Mercedes SL if you will, if the SL would make even a minimal effort to live up to its name, with a classic touch. But yeah, it is pretty cool. Dont see how journalists were confused by it though, it is an M5 cabrio that looks nice/classic. Motoring journalist credibility is right about zero, save for a select few, if you ask me.

I would say it is somewhat sporty, so the Harley comparison is a bit uncharitable if one is splitting hairs, because Harley certainly were abolutely zero sport at the time, and didnt really primarily focus on the same customers. I would rather say a classic looking air cooled Ducati such as a 900ss or some sporty Moto guzzi model is a more apt comparison.

Not to chromed Harleys. Those are made to bring you over your midlife crisis where you want to show your inner rebel. The Z8 is for people who enjoy a well mannered car :D Drive it to the mediterranean see, through France on speed limited roads. When you get to the alps when the sun sets, smell lavender and pine trees and hear the Gryllidae chirping and then, when you get over the alps, the smell of the sea. The next morning, when you wake up in Gruissan, you get into your car and drive to the market to fetch some baguette for breakfast and later you drive to Nice for a Pernod at the promenade de anglais. Then you know what this car was made for. Not to scrap of 10th of a second from your laps around the Nürburg Ring, no, to be enjoyed on public roads!

Yea I live in Malibu and I was imagining me driving this car with my wife (as seen in my profile photo). I have the new 2020 z4 m40i, tuned to 450wheel horsepower and 500 wheel torque, and it's stays planted better than thr m2 competition I had, but I do find myself imagining driving this GORGEOUS Z8 without tech gizmos, just cruising and enjoying it like an easy going gt car. South of France and southern Spain are also great places to drive, including most parts of Italy. Heck even Germany and Austria are nice..but Monaco would be a terrible place to drive as it's busy and narrow streets

He would've got away with it as well if his car choice was a Jaaaaag.

@@JayMaverick Yep. Could have taken the silverware as well :-)

A university to the east of the country perhaps....?

Sounds like the dean from the movie "Scent of A Women"

No university president in my country would be able to afford such car, not even used today.. lol

Oh dear me no. No gentlemen would ever drive any BMW. For obvious reasons.

@@Lemma01 what, why?

@@yomofoindahouse BMW are for cocks, or they have moved to Audi or Mercedes?! 🤔

@@Lemma01 So you´re saying 100% of BMW buyers are badge snobs? I think that makes YOU a badge snob.

@@PedroTRamos1 You may have a point, Sir. 😏

8 series still turns heads today and it’s 10 years older. Actually I’d prefer an 850csi.

BMW have a long history of this, unappreciated when new but price them now.

This was as fast as Ferraris

Bordeaux 850 CSi is the one that really floats my boat

That man had taste

Your father's friend was an absolute pimp 🤣

Does he still have it? Must be an individual color. One of only 124

I'd get a Lexus SC

Totally agree! Same here!

Porsche 911 is literally the only car you ever need.

@@MitchDenham nice but sometimes you fall in love with something a bit less ordinary

The story is not done just yet. Fisker Ocean and then Pear are coming soon

I absolutely despise them! I'm sure it is done intentionally.

Rendering climate control inoperable, no audio, no heated seats anymore, the list goes on...

They will become scrap. 10 years is also quite generous, with a 5-year predetermined obsolescence as the "new standard" in the industry. They claim they have to take away our normal cars and give us appliances because "eco friendly", while simultaneously altering the market to require far more frequent vehicle purchases, much more frequently, and thus far more production of throw-away vehicles. How is that more "eco friendly" again? We're being governed by imbeciles.

@@enigmaPL I agree 10 years is generous but was trying to be optimistic... hoping this tablet on the dash trend goes away soon.

Intentional decrepitude with new cars

Top work on the Emira! That car is absolutely glorious looking.

@@omerta2002 Cheers 👍. I’m a happy bunny about this one 😁😁

Same with me, I don’t like BMW. I tried to overcome this dislike with an Alpina but even that didn’t work out. But this one I always thought to be so special that I could consider buying it.

@@DoctorJezz I truly hope that it's a worldwide smash of a car for Lotus, which it looks like it's going to be judging by the interest it has received. I'm a Beemer Boy who would have a load of them, especially so in Alpina guise, and this Z has aged like a fine wine unlike alot of the modern retro cars that were produced around then.

@@omerta2002 Nice one - hope you get many more Alpinas to come ☺️ 👍

Enig!

My dream car as a 13 year old, a yellow 20vT with the yellow stripe on the dash.

My nephew has a metallic red Coupé 20V, great little car.

Yes my thought too and the Bangle connection is the link between these cars.

E46 still the best looking of the 3 series

@@LOTPOR0402 amen

The Hofmeister kink is still present in modern BMW cars.

My styling taste is very similar to yours: sadly the Chinese market is what drives the car market now, and therefore styling. Money talks more than aesthetics

Beaver 🐹 teeth on M3/4 are truly terrible agree - ps Don't forget the E26 M1 too, love mine !

Ha! This one was a bit of a rush to get completed in time thanks to the fact August weather has been rubbish for combining. Finally finished harvest last night, some 3 weeks later than last year..

@@harrysgarage 😳

Team work is often required. Which shows later. Fisker's own works don't look so balanced. Bangle's Z4 was much more radical. Z8 indeed has a lot in common with Fiat, however Fiat is way too conservative.

That's the car industry for you. The names who get the credit are so rarely the ones who had the ideas.

Bang on! The Barchetta was a great looking little car only with a little less sleeker look because of its proportions being slightly shorter.

@Dominick The universal truth of cost complaints means “you can’t afford.” The Z8 was never built for the masses, its one of those head turn driver cars thats good at a lot of things but never a master at anything.

He is the real most interesting man in the world!

Today? F1 scuppered itself 20 years ago.

The placement of the ignition switch is stunning. Nothing else like it.

Blue Barchetta! 😁

It looked boring, very boring, too rounded and humble. That was a time of bright flashy designs like Peugeot 206 and Murcielago.

As the owner of a Griffith I wholeheartedly agree! I absolutely adore these cars, always have, so much cooler than any modern supercar to my eyes.

So the unimaginative copying of 50s/60s/70s styling were better than 50s/60s/70s styling to you?

​@@josephhardwicke6344 Since time moved on since the 60s, some of these 90s cars (the upmarket ones, mind!) look stunning today. For example, both the DB7 and XK8 are timeless beauties. There are manufacturers which overdid it, I admit.

@@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X the same amount of time has moved on since the 90s as the 60s were to the 90s, and I'm sorry but I'm not seeing any cars being designed now to resemble cars from then. And despite that we still have cars from the 60s/70s being remade today. I know the 1990s had a few nice looking cars, but calling it the golden age of car design is ridiculous

@@josephhardwicke6344 My point is that 60s cars can look dated by now, while the best of 90s design can still look "modern" through timelessness. I see your point, however.

Yeh designers lost the plot 15/ 20 years ago .To much useless tech and complications in modern cars .Going to get even worse with all this electric mumbo jumbo

I was in BMW sales in Canada’s capital Ottawa for over 30 years. We received 2 Z8 to sell and I was lucky to sell them both . One took 1 month to sell (titanium silver ) and the second ( jet black ) took me over 2.5 years to sell. I tried really hard to sell it but people where not running into the dealership ready to spend $200 K Canadian ( $145 k US ) at the time .As we can see today 20 years plus they are selling for north of $250 K US in many cases. I believe this car will be a classic like the Jag E Type and hold it’s value.

It didn't take 20 years, it's been revered since it was discontinued

@@intranix It took 20 yes for him. 😉

BMW should first fire all their marketing because its them who are in charge.

I agree, What the F are they thinking: Toyota’s/Nissan’s are nice looking cars. NOTTTTTTT!!

I love the coach work on this car. All of us do! The blue car is tops. Loathe Silver cars, blaaa!

Lovely cars, I have had a lot of E39s myself but "virtually as quick", nowhere near. 0-100 in 15 (E39 540i) is a huge gap from 0-100 in 11. 15 seconds is absolutely quick enough to keep up with the modern traffic, but it is a whole league slower than a Z8.

I would go for the manual. I don't know how good this particular gearbox is. BMWs were not exactly known for the best manual gearboxes. But manual boxes in that era were practically at their pinnacle, if not already in decline. On the other hand, automatic boxes with hydraulic torque converters were slow by modern standards. Anything before 8HP is best avoided in a sportscar, even a touring one. At 20 years old, it's not going to be any better. And it's just another thing to fail. Also, manual box just makes sense if you're buying this type of a car (something that can't be bought new today). That's the thing you can hardly buy these days. Better automatics are everywhere. Manual boxes in sports cars, almost extinct. You'd have to be, IMHO, supremely lazy or incompetent at manual shifting. The problem is the price. It's really hard to swallow if I can still buy a Boxster GTS new from factory. I know, it's apples and oranges a bit. I've always loved the look of classic roadsters, I adored Z8 right from launch exactly because of the styling. But I can get an open top, naturally aspirated GTS with a manual transmission for almost third the price. It's really hard to contemplate. For the price of this, I can have the LC 500 and a GTS and still some 20+ grand left over. The only really tempting aspect is that this is a gorgeous example. When you look around, it looks like most Z8 buyers had either no imagination or rather poor taste. I would probably have to repaint and reupholster it. Perhaps seeing some of the combinations in person would change my mind, but in pictures, it's a rather sad sight. This one might be one in a thousand. And another example like this might not appear for years by which time the car could be worth who knows what. I do wonder though, what it would have been like with the E46 M3 engine in it.