Stories of First owners

[Z-acht]

A lot of the forum members are second or third owner of the car. We missed the joy of ordering the car and everything around this. It would be nice to hear stories of these first owners and collect them and preserve them for the future. We have a future classic and i.m.o. it is time to start collecting the history of this future classic because a real classic got "Heritage". I asked the same question on the Z8 club forum.

[macfly]

61888 was actually my second Z8. I'd really wanted a Stratus Crema/Black '03 at the time, but the saleswoman I'd chosen at Crevier BMW sold me a total bill of crap in Dec '02 saying she couldn't get any other cars but the one they had in stock, and it was the last one they'd be getting. It was the combo I already had, Silver/Black, and it came with no phone, no book, and missing half the original parts, but somehow I got talked into it! To this day I don't understand why I remained faithful to that awful saleswoman, and worse, I even went to the 'Ring with her a couple of years later, which turned out to be another massive mistake! Hindsight, as they say.

Initially I keep 61888 in a bubble as a long term keeper/investment car, doing just 50 miles or so a year just to keep her 'alive'. However 18 months after she arrived in my garage, my first Z8, a '00 EU import, fell victim to frame damage and ended up getting written off by the insurance company. This brought 61888 out of her bubble and into 'regular' service starting with the second Napa Drive.

Ironically while her Silver/Black combo might not have been my first or even second choice of color for what was planned as my long term keeper car, it's proven to be the best of all the colors for a photographer as it's the easiest to shoot in every lighting situation. So you could say as what started out as a slight disappointment has turned into a long and lasting love affair!

Oddly enough if I could add another Z8 to the garage now, it'd be a Red/Red. I've really come to love that combo, but back in '02 it was the one I liked the least!

[skicoach]

I got my courage up to take the plunge in the spring of 02. A trip to my local dealer was met with the salesman trying to sell me Dennis Kozlowski's car he turned in for obvious reasons and the news that they had no more allotted cars. I started making calls looking for a Ti/Red and located one that was unclaimed and coming into competition BMW of Long Island in July, 02. My salesman's name was Sal and we stayed in close contact until the day I picked her up. She has about 16,xxx miles and has never had a scratch. I have a real passion for my car to this day. I have Fisker's original design sketch with a personal note, all the std. memerobelia, every personal BMW Z8 de club gift, a very rare 18:1 Ti/Red model and every record ever generated including PP. I even have a picture of Sal handing me the keys the day I picked it up and an unworn Tee shirt the gave me still in wrapper.
So much more but needless to say, I am still a dedicated Z8 nut who has owned my car since mile one.
Chris

[Z-acht]

Thanks guys great stories! So I understand that you could not order a car from the factory?

[macfly]

You could, and Carlos did, but sadly I had no idea, I would have loved to have done a European delivery back then.

[Z-acht]

The EU approach of the customer looks quit different: salesman brochures, leather samples, several brochures and postcards with "thank you for ordering the Z8" :-) I have seen one US brochure for the Z8 ...is my impression correct?

[macfly]

Yes, car dealerships here are all about volume over service. They all want to hustle-rush you from the moment you walk through the door, get your money and get you out of their way so they can make the next sale. There is absolutely no pleasure in buying a car in Southern California.

[harvey2]

Things were going pretty well for us back in yr2000 and I decided, after much test driving and shopping that my dot-com car was going to be a brand new 2001 E39 BMW 540i6. I have lived a modest life and up to this point, my most expensive car purchase had been a new 1987 Mazda 323 hatchback. So this was a pretty big deal and I was excited. The day finally came to place the order, as nothing off the lot would do, and there we were, my wife and I, sitting in the little office of Trevor, my favorite salesman. He had gone off to photocopy something and I was a bit bored, so I picked up a sales flyer for the Z8. We had seen this car at the local car show a few months before, albeit from a respectful distance behind a red rope, and I had read the magazine articles, so it was somewhat familiar to us. I marveled at how beautiful it was and showed some photos to my wife who just nodded and smiled. Trevor returned, so I put the flyer down and we finished our business.

As we drove home in our little Mazda, which had always been an excellent car by the way, we had gone a few miles when the desire for a meal hit us and we pulled in to the local burger shack for one of their specialties. I was enjoying myself, with a mouth full of tomato and lettuce and stuff when I turned to my wife and, just making idle conversation, I joked “gee, I sure wish I could buy that Z8”. She turned to me, and without smiling, and in a matter-of-fact voice, said simply, “Why don’t you?” This simple phrase hit me like a bolt of lightning. A wave of heat instantly flashed from the pit of my stomach to the top of my head and I was dazed for a second by the fact that, yes, such a crazy thing was actually within our reach. Was this an epiphany? The resources that made such a suggestion even remotely practical had come to us as a windfall only months before and thoughts of an impulse buy of such a magnitude would never have occurred to me if I had not looked into my wife’s eyes and realized at that moment that she was deadly serious. In all of 600 microseconds, plus or minus, my mind was set. “Yes”, I said back to her, “why don’t we?” I put the remains of my meal down, smiled, started the car and turned back towards the dealer. We said nothing the entire journey, an eerie sort of magical bubble of excitement had descended over us and I didn’t want to break the mood.

When I walked into Trevor’s office he said “Oh, hi, did you forget something?” I replied, “no, I just decided to order another car”. Trevor almost fell off his chair, saying “really? Wow, that’s great. Which one?” So I said “the Z8”. This time he really did fall down, thoroughly stunned and trying to catch his breath. “The Z8? Wa…but…I….umm….are you shzzzting me?” I replied “no” but he wasn’t convinced because I had a smile on my face. So he turned to my wife, who just nodded without saying a word. Well, you could have knocked him over with a feather. I swear he was more excited than either of us, and sort of hopped up and down on his chair as he prepared the papers. Yes, like many of us, Trevor loves cars and the Z8 in particular.


It took another five months, but when the day finally came, the car was ready and we met Trevor in the delivery showroom. He and I both giggled with excitement, and while my wife was keen too, having two grown men act this way put the “oh brother” face on her. The ‘How To Work The Car’ lecture was far too long and anyways I knew I would remember none of it, that’s what adrenalin does to your brain, it makes you stupid. Finally, the moment of truth. I had never stepped foot inside a Z8 before and had never heard one running before. I’m very tall, so anxiety melted away as I slipped into the leather lined cabin. It fit! I quietly thanked all German engineers everywhere. My wife got in, we shut the doors. The big glass wall in front of us was pushed aside and as Trevor took a photo, I turned the key. You can imagine what happened next.

[screenap]

Wow awesome story... I hope you treat your wife every day of encouraging you to take the plunge!

[Z-acht]

Great story.....and great wife!