BMW Z8 Owned by Steve Jobs Estimated to Fetch Up to $400,000 at Auction Next Month

[MacRumors]

A luxurious, 400 horsepower BMW Z8 owned by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is headed to auction next month at Sotheby's in New York. The winning bid is estimated to reach between $300,000 and $400,000.

Jobs' ownership is documented through several service invoices accompanying the car, as well as a copy of a California registration or so-called "pink slip" in his name and at his personal residence, according to the listing.

"According to legend, Jobs was convinced to buy the Z8 by Larry Ellison the iconoclastic CEO of Oracle, who enthused to Jobs that the car was a paragon of modern automotive engineering and ergonomics," the listing says.

The roadster has a production date of April 1, 2000, and it was delivered to him in October of that year, according to Sotheby's. Jobs reportedly sold the car in 2003 to its current owner in Los Angeles.

Over the course of the last 17 years, the car has been driven just 15,200 miles from new, averaging less than 1,000 miles a year, the listing states. It is said to remain in "exemplary condition."

The silver-over-black car is equipped with several accessories, including its original BMW-branded Motorola flip phone that Jobs supposedly hated. The JOBS Z8 license plate was registered by the current owner.

BMW built just over 5,700 Z8s between 1999 and 2003. The car had a suggested price of $128,000 before options in the United States, and used models typically sell for anywhere between $165,000 and over $200,000.

The auction begins December 6 at Sotheby's "Icons" event, featuring supercars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Jaguar, and other marques. The listing was brought to our attention by BMWBLOG.com.

(Thanks, Chris!)

Article Link: BMW Z8 Owned by Steve Jobs Estimated to Fetch Up to $400,000 at Auction Next Month

 

[44267547]

Can you imagine driving around in a Car driven and owned by Steve Jobs? What a story piece that would be.

 

[NBAasDOGG]

I have always wondered why Americans drive European cars...

 

[unibility]

I use to own a Motorola StarTac. Those were AWESOME!!!

 

[Naaaaak]

Needs to continue the tradition of parking in handicapped spaces.

 

[praetorian909]

I'd rather see the money go to charities under Steve Job's wife than to "the guy who just happened to buy Steve's car."

 

[MH01]

Motorola StarTac, awesome! Z8....meh

 

[Joe Rossignol]

I have always wondered why Americans drive European cars...

Probably the same reason Europeans use the American-designed iPhone.

 

[tooloud10]

Can you imagine driving around in a Car driven and owned by Steve Jobs? What a story piece that would be.

Honestly, I can...I just don't see that it would feel any different than driving any other Z8.

 

[gugy]

I see no reason to pay that amount of money when Z8's go around for much less than that (Autotrader similar mileage/year for $230k). People just are gullible.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

I use to own a Motorola StarTac. Those were AWESOME!!!

I remember carrying around a Motorola Startac phone also. That was an expensive and very sought after piece of technology back then.

 

[Sill]

The article accompanying the auction listing is actually a very nice reminiscence of Steve. I hope that a true fan of both he and the Z8 are able to buy that car and take good care of it.

 

[Poncho]

Is it worth buying Apple Car?

 

[macs4nw]

I have always wondered why Americans drive European cars...

Probably for the same reason some Europeans used to love driving the big old gas-guzzling 50s and 60s American cars, at least those who could afford to buy and drive them. People like to set themselves apart from the crowd.

 

[bopajuice]

I have always wondered why Americans drive European cars...

I have always wondered why Europeans love Levis jeans... At least the ones I know.

Wait a minute... Don't European car makers build many of their cars here?

Vehicle U.S. April 2017 YTD Sales U.S. April 2017 YTD Production
Mercedes-Benz C-Class – Vance, Alabama 27,098 28,455
Volkswagen Passat – Chattanooga, Tennessee 24,415 25,578
Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class – Vance, Alabama 17,374 59,322
BMW X3 – Spartanburg, South Carolina 16,773 50,997
BMW X5 – Spartanburg, South Carolina 15,472 56,290
Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class – Vance, Alabama 10,006 18,876
BMW X6 – Spartanburg, South Carolina 2,089 13,151
BMW X4 – Spartanburg, South Carolina 1,179 16,979
Volkswagen Atlas – Chattanooga, Tennessee — 11,871
Total 114,406 281,519

 

[Sill]

I remember carrying around a Motorola Startac phone also. That was an expensive and very sought after piece of technology back then.

Remember that? When a cell phone was judged by how tiny it was? The StarTac made my Nokia 6061 look like a brick phone. Now, the iPhones and various Android slabs make the StarTac look like a 25 cent prize from a claw game in a Shoney's lobby.

 

[deanthedev]

A friend of mine has a Z8. The tailights quit working and were ridiculously expensive (somewhere around $2,500 each).

They are actually neon tubes as opposed to incandescent bulbs or LEDs. So I carefully cut them open and repaired them (simple fix of a bad solder joint) and saved him a ton.

They are nice cars and handle good, but not very impressive compared to new cars today (like most classics are).

 

[jerwin]

The current JOBS Z8 license plate belongs to the current owner.

Steve Jobs wouldn't have used a license plate.

 

[GrumpyMom]

It’s a beautiful car. It wouldn’t last fifteen minutes around my area, sadly.

 

[VPrime]

 

[nwcs]

Those original StarTacs are expensive. They came out when I was in college and I remember one coworker who bought it. He loved showing it off. Lol, it was quite a few years before I bought a cell phone I would actually remember to use (iPhone 8GB).

 

[JosephAW]

I thought he leased a car every 30 days so he didn't have to have a license plate?
Must be someone else.

 

[EdT]

I don't particularly like sports cars in general and the fact that this one was owned by Jobs doesn't add any value for me. Not that I could afford to buy something like this anyway.

 

[827538]

That is one ugly BMW. Never liked any of the Z BMW cars.

 

[Foggydog]

Steve Jobs wouldn't have used a license plate.

You brought up a good point.
If I remember correctly, I read an article that Steve Jobs never licensed his cars because California has a law that cars can go six months before needing to be licensed. Because of that, he traded his in every six months.

Am I correct?