BMW Z4

BMW Z4. Photo courtesy of BMW

The Z3 was not, let’s be honest, the world’s most impressive roadster. It looked like a sex aid designed by HR Giger, and when Pierce Brosnan drove it in GoldenEye there should have been an extra scene explaining why 007 had eschewed Q and borrowed some wheels from his hairdresser. It would be no surprise to find BMW keen to lay all that to rest, and the new Z, off the drawing board of US-born design boss Chris Bangle and on the streets next month, seems to have done so – though not necessarily in the way intended.

It’s based on the X-Coupé concept, which looked like a vintage Merc SLK made over by Fiat and was chiefly notable for a bizarre clamshell rear (not adopted here). It does have fashionably chiselled lines – to the horror of Beemer traditionalists – but what it lacks is coherence; like so many American cars, it looks as if three different people did the front, rear and mid section respectively.

But we’re told it’s beautifully built and, thanks to sundry electronic cleverness, a joy to drive; and at least it doesn’t have gills.

First published in ‘Twenty/20’, MacUser, 16 May 2003

Tagged as: Cars, Design, MacUser, Reviews