BMW celebrates 75 years of building roadsters

Drew Phillips — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:58:00 EST

BMW Roadsters - Click above for a high-res image gallery

We generally think of BMW as the maker of some of the world's best sports sedans, but its put out some impressive roadsters over the years. Seventy-five years to be exact. The Bavarian auto manufacturer has been producing two-door open-seaters for three quarters of a century now, starting with 315/1 Sports model that was unveiled at the 1934 Berlin Motor Show followed by the more powerful 319/1. Two legendary roadsters came next, starting with the 328 Roadster in 1936 that was bred on the Nurburgring, and the classically-styled 507 in the late 1950's that inspired the next half century of BMW two-door ragtops.

It was nearly 30 years before BMW produced another roadster, and it came in the form of the Z1 that launched in 1988. The quirky roadster featured plastic body panels that bolted onto the steel monocoque body and doors that could retract into the side of the car. In 1995 BMW brought the roadster to the masses with the Z3, followed by the modern day Z4 that's just begun its second generation. Then, of course, there is the elegant Z8. Perhaps our favorite of all BMW's roadsters, it offered everything we would ever want from a sporty two-door convertible: a 400 horsepower V8, six-speed manual transmission, and a design that will never go out of style.

BMW has provided a wonderful gallery of photos highlighting each car, all available in high resolution. More details on each roadster can also be found in the press release after the jump.

Gallery: 75 Years of BMW Roadsters

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BMW celebrates 75 years of building roadsters originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 May 2009 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay Find of the Day: BMW Z1

Alex Nunez — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:02:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Auctions, Europe, BMW

click above image to view 22 pics of the BMW Z1 for sale on eBay

I'll never forget seeing my first BMW Z1. Strangely enough, it wasn't in Europe. It was a summer probably six or seven years ago while I was vacationing in Miami. I was seated outdoors at the News Cafe in South Beach, and it was parked curbside behind a yellow Ferrari F355 Berlinetta. I specifically remember noting that its electric sliding doors were in the "down" position.

I knew what the Z1 was, and that the likelihood of seeing one in the US (where they were never sold) was somewhere between slim and none. Having one in front of me in this unlikeliest of places was abundantly cool, and the car's great-looking in person. In fact, I remarked to my wife that at that moment in Miami Beach, the little BMW over there was about ten times as exotic as the Ferrari parked in front of it. After all, Ferraris in Miami are far from rare. To date, however, I've never seen another Z1, even after making multiple business trips to Europe in the intervening years. So I had to smile when I saw this eBay link.

The car up for grabs has 172,000 km on the odometer (106,000+ miles) and is one of 8,000 ever built. While never federalized, its status as a historically significant vehicle lets the owner get an exemption that allows it to be registered and driven up to 2,500 miles per year. The opening bid is set at $39,000.

It's in Miami.

[Source: eBay]

Gallery: 1990 BMW Z1

eBay Find of the Day: BMW Z1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 May 2007 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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