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BMW 507 and Z8

Published by Esteban Glas on March 19th, 2007 | This post lacks all category except for: BMW, Cars, Design

For quite some time I’ve been wanting to talk about two of my all time favorites amongst cars, and, so it happens one is a “redesign” (or tribute) of the other. So, we’ll better start with the “oldest” of them.

BMW 507 - 1956

The 507 was the reply to Mercedes Benz and Jaguar’s sports cars success. Up to that point the company had focus on post-war cars, after rebuilding itself by selling smaller and lower end cars. During sometime in the mid 50’s it had become increasingly obvious that the wold’s economy was in recovery and that people were willing to spend good money in more luxurious cars, with Americans heading this trend.

It was Count Albrecht von Goertz who headed the design of this classic. It must of been quite surprising that after designing the very pre-1939 looking 502 and 503, he was able to pull this design; quite iconic and ahead of its time (it looks 1960′ish).

After a couple of years in production, it became obvious that the market wasn’t all that ready fur such car, and the company lost money upon it. I personally think that the overseas sales should have been more in focus at the time, but BMW failed to gain the heart of Americans. If Porsche hadn’t been successful I’d be tempted to blame that to anti-German feelings after the war concluded, I guess it was just good old poor marketing. Either way BMW went full throttle to build cheaper cars to save itself from bankruptcy.
Only 252 were ever made, and that is the main reason why such cars can hit the 300,000 US dollars on auction this days. One of it’s most noteworthy owners was Elvis Presley.

BMW Z8 - 2000

The Z07 was meant for production. But not as quickly as it happened. The car was a concept (named after the 507, and the year of it’s creation: 1997). It all quickly shifted after 1997’s Tokyo auto show, where the car was highly regarded and admired.

BMW was already looking for a refresh of it’s highly successful Z3 (and it’s variants), but the Z8 was in a higher price range; it is a fully featured sports car, by nature. Going from 0 to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds is no joke.

It’s concept car birth gave the Z8 some unique features, such as being the first production car to feature neon headlights, and the single spin command that would make it into the 5 and 7 series a couple of years later.

Born a classic, the car is as expensive used as it was out of factory, and with only 5,700 cars ever to leave the production lines, one can only expect prices to go higher.

The Inheritance.

Although the 507 was never a commercially viable, it has payed off BMW over time. It proved the company could still make sports cars which were highly desirable (although the company would take a long way to return to roadsters) high quality and everlasting. It followed the line of pre-war cars such as the 328 (remember my grandpa’s car?) and it set the ground for such cars as the M1 and Z1.

The Z8 was also a proof of concept, and, although the Z4 is not as high-ended or “sportsy” it follows the same line.

I only hope to be able to see the next BMW to feature this sort of detailing:

507 Side detail.

Z8 Side detail

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