The BMW Z8 landed squarely in the revivalist period of the late 1990s, rebooting a car that made barely a ripple in the car sales book in the 1950s but made huge waves in the history books.
The 507 was a truly special car. Only around 250 or so made it into production – it was too good for its own good, in many ways. It was beautiful in its lines, clean and crisp and simply elegant. Elvis, John Surtees and various Hollywood stars were counted among the owners.
No surprise that in 1997 a concept built and designed from the ground up by the M division paid homage, named the Z07, later and more famously the Z8. A year or so down the line it was on the silver screen in the hands of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in The World Is Not Enough and more than 5000 were built.
That is a surprisingly high number over just a four-year period, given the unlikeliness of ever seeing one in the wild. More likely are you to see the car that provided the power, the E39 M5. (The Z8’s E number is 52.)
No expense was spared. The chassis, a spaceframe, was bespoke, the body was aluminium and the interior is an homage to the original. BMW’s own, which is at the Scramble in the Reboots & Restomods display, is the bright-red variant and is as striking as it is brash. The steering wheel, always on the left, is just as notable with ribbons of metal connecting to the floating wide band around it. It could so easily be bakelite.
Henrik Fisker, whose timeless Vantage was still a couple of years away, is credited with the design of the Z8 under the eye of Chris Bangle.
It is also more than simply a special retro design. To drive, the Z8 is rare in that it manages to be even better than you hope, let alone expect. The power is sublime, the handling brilliant. No wonder the price today is double the list in 1998 and always rising.
The BMW Z8 will be part of the Reboots & Restomods central display at the sold-out Scramble on Sunday 5 October.