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

Always liked the looks of those, but never understood the price. Bang for buck, I would be more interested in finding one of his former SLs.

From that era, I would argue with Mr Ellison that the 360 was more of a paragon of engineering than the Z8. At least BMW v8 engines of that era didn’t consume rod bearings like jawbreaker candy. Unlike like more recent M3 engines.
 
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Foggydog said:
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?
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Why did he hate license plates?
 
Foggydog said:
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?
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This is true. As soon as I saw the license plate I thought... FAKE! :D
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IG88 said:
Why did he hate license plates?
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Steve Jobs didn't want a license plate because reporters could then have people look it up and find out where he lived and/or follow him around. That drove him nuts.

Steve Jobs also didn't let his kids use computers or cell phones. :D
 
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YoitsTmac said:
I'm a car guy, and more notably a BMW guy, and I'm going to have to kindly disagree. The suspension design is very similar to the modern 4 series (in the front) and the rear resembles the E46 (99-06 3-series) subframe. I own an E46, and can easily out handle M235i's (serious current gen BMW's) with about $1,000 in suspension mods. In short I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be so quick to label old cars as bad handling, especially from BMW.
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I don’t think I said old cars have bad handling. Just that they often disappoint when compared to new cars.

I’m curious what you mean by “out handle”. As in it feels better and is more fun to drive? Or that it’s a faster car on the track?
 
PinkyMacGodess said:
I had an Audi A4 Quattro, and I seriously LOVED that car!!! I wanted to have it's children!!! OMG!!!

I drove to a concert (Counting Crows) and on the way back, there was a freak ice storm. We drove for about three quarters of the 2 hour trip back, and I never even knew there was any ice. We passed several cars in the ditch. Strange I thought...

We stopped for snacks and drinks at a gas station, and I pulled up perpendicular with the station, and put it in park, and realized the car was moving forward. INTO the station wall. I got out, and almost ended on my ass. The antenna had over a half inch of ice trailing off the back of it. It was UNBELIEVABLE! We started the last of the trek back, and passed several full size road blows in the ditch, and yet the Audi felt like it was ON RAILS!!! Or Velcro! It was, well, I fell completely in love... We were due to be married, except for the fact that we leased this amazing ride, and I was really over the limit for the lease. Like REALLY over the limit. We ended up selling the car, and paying off the lease. But I still miss that damn car...

So, wow!!! LOVE Audi's.

Well, except for the time the back foot wells flooded because Sven, or someone, routed the drain for the air conditioning into that area. I had two inches of standing water in that area. :-O But still love that car. I wonder if she's still out there, somewhere...
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Got rid of my Avant Quattro a few years ago. Loved the car.
 
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Sill said:
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.
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I died laughing. Shoneys lobby. LOL
 
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deanthedev said:
I don’t think I said old cars have bad handling. Just that they often disappoint when compared to new cars.

I’m curious what you mean by “out handle”. As in it feels better and is more fun to drive? Or that it’s a faster car on the track?
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Out handle as in I pull harder G's in the corners. I drive in my BMW CCA chapter and on drives I can stop faster and go through corners quicker. We were on a canyon drive and I was behind an M235i (and a track day special Z4 behind me, so cool, will add pic). We were going around a corner at, "respectable" speeds and the M235i was skidding around trying to hold the corner and I was pulling on him mid corner. I also do autocross and even though I'm down on power significantly (M52TUB28...M3 someday soon), I end up getting times around or faster M235i's. Even though they have the advantage in the straights, I can match the time because I can stop quicker and keep my average speed higher because I can take the same corners faster. Because of the power, I would get my a** handed on track, but an S54 would make it more interesting. That all being said, I was just trying to say that I don't feel old cars necessarily would get shown down by modern cars.

Forgive me, I am a nerd. Again, I'm sure with the same mods on an M235i, I would get shown up, but for a 17 year old car, I wouldn't be so dismissive of an old cars abilities. I would also argue I get a lot more feel with my car, but the experience is subjective. The only car I love more than E46 is the E92, and I'm not sure if it's just because of the motor. The suspension is definitely more advanced.


840quadra said:
Always liked the looks of those, but never understood the price. Bang for buck, I would be more interested in finding one of his former SLs.

From that era, I would argue with Mr Ellison that the 360 was more of a paragon of engineering than the Z8. At least BMW v8 engines of that era didn’t consume rod bearings like jawbreaker candy. Unlike like more recent M3 engines.
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As far as I know, the S85 (E60 V10), the S54 (E46 I6), and the S65 (E92 V8) all loved to blow themselves to smithereens on stock rod bearings.
 

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shareef777 said:
Number one cars purchased here are Japanese (Toyota/Honda), then American (Ford/Chevy). Volume wise, European cars have low sales. They barely have models to choose from in comparison.
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Barely models to choose from? There's currently 18 chassis' offered by BMW and 27 by Mercedes (if sedan vs coupe vs convertible etc are considered different - they often are internally). Not to say your sales fact is wrong, I personally don't know.
 
With or without Jobs, the Z8 is a huge collectors car anyway. Only very few got build. Certainly a good buy.
 
tooloud10 said:
Honestly, I can...I just don't see that it would feel any different than driving any other Z8.
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My outlook is different than yours. Personally, I'm a car guy and always have been. And I usually like to drive around in something that most may not have or is more rare if you will. And this would be a interesting piece at a car show with some history behind it. A great conversational piece if anything, not to mention, I never see Z8's anywhere.
 
Sill said:
Remember that? When a cell phone was judged by how tiny it was?
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When a cell phone's capabilities focused primarily on the earpiece and microphone... you could make the phone as small as you want without sacrificing those capabilities.

But now the beautiful screen is the centerpiece of the phone. It's the interface as well as the display. And tiny screens aren't exactly a joy to use.

Here's a tiny smartphone... is smaller really better? :p

jelley-pro.jpg
 
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praetorian909 said:
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."
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The guy bought the car from Jobs in '03 who bought it in 2000. Jobs died in '11, 8 years after selling it. So now former wife is supposed to buy the car back, then donated to charity? A bit unreasonable, don't you think?

By the way, it's a slick looking machine for a 2000 model. Styling for it seems to have stood the test of time.
 
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Relentless Power said:
Can you imagine driving around in a Car driven and owned by Steve Jobs? What a story piece that would be.
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you dont. it stays in the garage duh
[doublepost=1509346083][/doublepost]The only thing I can remember about this car is that THE WOOORLD IS NOOOOT ENOOOUUUUUGGGHH
 
The "so-called pink slip" is the certificate of title, not the registration. A new certificate of registration is issued annually in California. New pink slips are issued only when the ownership is transferred.
 
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