The Other Bond Car: 2000 BMW Z8 Convertible

The BMW Z8 was one of those iconic models that became highly collectible almost instantly. Seen as the spiritual successor to the iconic BMW 507 sports car, it blended the old and new perfectly without being too obvious about its connections to the original model. Sold in limited quantities at a very high price point, the Z8 is certainly not impossible to find but rare enough that its price tag remains high. The car shown here has been driven but is still fairly new in the wrapper with well under 30,000 original miles. Find it here on eBay with bids sitting at $35,200 and the reserve unmet.

If there was ever a more perfect James Bond car offered in the last 30 years, I don’t know what it is (nor do I care if you think Aston Martin should be the brand of choice; I loved the Pierce Brosnan era and the best of the late 90s/early 2000s BMWs.) All joking aside, BMW made one of its biggest marketing pushes in recent memory when it began supplying 007 with the best of its luxury lineup, and the Z8 was perhaps the peak of the collection of cars provided. Of course, if you recall seeing the Z8 in The World Is Not Enough (which is currently streaming on Netflix), you’ll also know they sliced it in half courtesy of a helicopter tree-trimming service.

The Z8 was striking it its simplicity and grace, yet still firmly modern in terms of creature comforts and driver aids. This was perhaps the final frontier before every car became saddled with airbags and infotainment systems; oh, take me back to a time when it was perfectly acceptable to design a vehicle with no huge monitor in the center stack and slim A-pillars. The steering wheel was just brilliant in its execution, showing you can blend an airbag with a stylish wheel. The Z8 was a ripper, too, with the 6-speed gearbox paired with the same V8 engine found in the E39 chassis BMW M5.

Pushing out an impressive 394 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, the Z8 reaches 60 miles per hour in safely under 5 seconds, and when paired with the optional hardtop (which this car comes with), you can enjoy that performance all year long. The market is still quite strong for these cars, so don’t expect to find one below six-figures (and well into the six-figures, at that.) While it may not have the lasting swagger of an Aston Martin DB5, the Z8 is still a significant player in the high-end enthusiast vehicle marketplace with plenty of relevance both as a cultural icon and an outstanding sports model from a time when BMW still cared about such things.