BMW is to produce an exclusive sports car, called the Z8, aimed at connoisseurs.

Powered by a ferocious 5.0-litre eight cylinder engine, the 400 horsepower car will drive through a six-speed gearbox. The broad kidney grille and small xenon headlights faired in by glass covers flow into a long bonnet with muscular wheel arches and wide doors rounded off by a shapely tail with four large tailpipes.

The Z8 will bear the typical 507 air scoops on its front wings while a luxurious leather interior will be set off by a central instrument binnacle redolent of the great era of convertible cars.

Built on an aluminium alloy spaceframe and carrying an all-aluminium body, with the exception of the bumpers, the Z8 will ride on aluminium suspension components, as pioneered on the BMW 5 Series.

BMW says the beauty of the 507 has been 're-incarnated' in the Z8 and as befitting such a special car, like its predecessor, the Z8 will only be built in very small numbers. It will only be produced as a left-hand drive model.

Story date: Wednesday 03 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.