The Virus

[macfly]

I hope everyone is staying home, wearing a mask and gloves to go to the shops, and keeping as safe as possible during this thing.

I never thought I'd see such crazy times, but they're here.

[Musta10000]

Andrew - Stay safe and healthy!

[///M Blitz]

We’re living the Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” in more ways than one. Stay safe everyone.

[vzben]

Stay safe at home! Do you think this virus will have an impact on the rating? Once again, I see more and more low-mileage z8s for sale under EUR 170,000 in Europe. For instance: https://tinyurl.com/uc9t9s9 and https://www.lacentrale.fr/auto-occas...100769145.html

[boomster]

As I assume is true of many people here, any downward movement in the value of my Z8 pales in comparison to the recent gyrations of my stock portfolio. Thankfully, I can still enjoy a ride in the Z8, and since I have no plans to sell it, valuations are of little consequence.

[Dogsbreath]

As I assume is true of many people here, any downward movement in the value of my Z8 pales in comparison to the recent gyrations of my stock portfolio. Thankfully, I can still enjoy a ride in the Z8, and since I have no plans to sell it, valuations are of little consequence.

From an emergency physician - stay safe. Gloves arent a good idea Andrew. A mask, however, isnt going to help anyone unless you are infected and trying to avoid spreading it to others.

Use your common sense and wash your hands, dont touch your face. Please understand that unless you are sick enuf to be admitted, or that you had a prolonged exposure to a person with documented disease, that you will likely NOT qualify for testing. There is a severe shortage of masks and testing equipment. Please have patience with the health professionals. This is a somewhat stressful time for everyone and we are working long hours under difficult conditions

If you are on the internet - stick to sites such as WHO or NIH. There is a lot of disinformation out there.

For those under 65 and without serious medical issues such as immunosupression, copd etc.. just keep it in perspective - your chance of developing serious illness even if you become infected, is very low.

Stay away from your loved ones who are at risk.

We are all looking forward to seeing this in the rear view mirror but it is going to be awhile.

Dave P

[EDEZ8]

Thank you Dave P for the informed perspectives on COVID-19!

[Dogsbreath]

Thank you Dave P for the informed perspectives on COVID-19!

And I meant to say that gloves ARE a good idea. Masks are no help unless you are trying to decrease transmission to others

[///M Blitz]

I can't for the life of me understand why doctors and "experts" keep parroting the same "masks won't help" narrative. Even if the mask stops a single droplet when some idiot coughs or sneezes on top of you, or more-importantly keeps you from being able to touch you mouth or nose, that just might keep you from getting infected. More evidence that logic has left the building.

Holly crap people, use every single avenue available to you to stay safe; wear gloves, wear a mask, wear a hazmat suit...

Andrew, I'm with you. I'm wearing my N95 mask and latex gloves whenever I go out, experts be damned.

[macfly]

Me too, I don't care that I look like a freak, or what anyone says or thinks, I have weak lungs already and have no interest in messing with this thing!

[Dogsbreath]

Do as you will. Just keep in mind that the experts are the same people at the greatest risk of contracting the virus. And recommendations come from the same people who are advising you to: lose weight, control your blood pressure, vaccinate your kids. They come from a good place, which is to keep others healthy and safe.

Please be respectful to your health care workers. This is a stressful job at the best of times.

I wont comment more on this as I believe the site should be 'virus free'

[EDEZ8]

It is crazy how often I catch myself wanting to touch my face, but stopping short so far. Outside of our immediate family, we have been practicing "social distancing" maintaining 6 ft/2 m of space between others. In this regard, I've been less inclined to wear a mask but there are some great points made in its favor too. Thanks!

I don't know if it is a best practice or not, but my wife and I have both taken weekly turns cleaning high touch areas like door knobs and handrails at home. We also both carry hand sanitizer and I will use it after filling the tank or after touching something I am not sure about and I cannot quickly get to a faucet to wash my hands.

My only data point is a healthy 60 year old male colleague in Europe who contracted COVID19 and fell into the mild symptoms category. That said, I remain diligent to protect myself and others who are at a higher risk of needing medical intervention.

Stay well!

[Satch]

How odd that my lifestyle has now become all the rage. Here's how bad it is: I can go days without wearing shoes. My commute is about twenty feet from one room to another. Boy, talk about an excuse to isolate yourself in your garage! Maybe I'll get around to replacing the rally-computer cable in Nancy Drew. (The 2019 O'Fest TSD rally may have been the first ever laid out and measured in a Z8. I installed the transponder to read magnets glued to the left front wheel, routing the CAT-5 cord up through the engine compartment, where it lies neatly in a coil below the right-hand windshield wiper. Note to self: When driving through a car wash, make sure that an inch or two of the CAT-5 cord does NOT stick out from under the hood! Those car-wash rollers are NASTY! )

[macfly]

Car wash rollers? Nooooooooo!!!!

I have to confess, I also didn't actually realize my lifestyle was already socially distant until this thing hit. Apart from the odd dinner get to gather, concert and exhibition opening it's made absolutely no difference to my lifestyle at all! I now realize when it's over I have to make more of an effort not to be such a hermit!

[2112]

We’re living the Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” in more ways than one. Stay safe everyone.

I think the curse is that we moved most, and in many cases, all of the production of our healthcare supplies to China.

It one of the major causes to our inability to ramp up supplies and get them into the field.

Don't expect China to feel any moral obligation to supply the Western nations at a faster rate or before their own requirements are met.
.

[2112]

Interesting reading;

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-coronavirus1/

BTW, In case you were curious like I was;

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin

[///M Blitz]

It is crazy how often I catch myself wanting to touch my face, but stopping short so far.

Ed,

I'm constantly amazed by the lack of critical, logical thinking this day and age. We've been told that one of the worst things we can do in the case of the Chinese Wuhan virus is touch our nose, eyes and mouth, but in the same breath we're told masks don't work. My first logical thought was, wait if I put on an N95 mask and a pair of the protective goggles I have in the garage (the one's I use for working on the Z8), that will keep me from touching my eyes, mouth, and nose. Anything else the mask might do is icing on the cake...

[EDEZ8]

Interesting reading;

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-coronavirus1/

BTW, In case you were curious like I was;

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin

Thanks for sharing the interesting Scientific American article as well as the Pangolin link. The concept of pathogens jumping species as is proposed in the article for the Coronavirus from Bats, to Pangolins to humans is not new, for example I was reminded about mad cow disease and KJD.

Is the GM reference to Grease Monkey? Whatever happened to him? I enjoyed his posts.

[2112]

It is hard for me to wrap my mind around open meat markets. They have been the source of several breakouts of contagion. Tho the Chinese government appears to be cracking down, I don't expect results.

Yes, Grease Monkey. Have not heard from him in years.

He was quite the Z8 performance guru.

[EDEZ8]

It is hard for me to wrap my mind around open meat markets. They have been the source of several breakouts of contagion. Tho the Chinese government appears to be cracking down, I don't expect results.

Yes, Grease Monkey. Have not heard from him in years.

He was quite the Z8 performance guru.

Open exotic meat markets in this case...

We should do a "Where are they now" series by checking in with past community members like GM. I wonder what he's driving today?

[macfly]

I know that GM's planning to sell his super low milage '03 at this years Sothebys or Christys auction at Pebble Beach, and he's still enjoying his Dinan monster car, but like several of the original members he chose to step into a more private realm.

The same happened with Jerry, who I always really enjoyed as a forum member. I know he'd got very into F-cars, and I'm not sure if he kept his Z8.

Sadly Bob Lacy had a bit of a bad stroke and is no longer really a driver. I believe he sold his car a while back.

Rifle sold his car and moved up to the Chicago area, and no longer pops by here.

Lucky Chuck, Pandaman, Drider and Scott Petit all passed away.

Marty is still very much in the car biz here in LA and I talk to him once every few months, but no longer pops by here.

Old Baillie still has his car, but is planning to sell it soon, and no longer pops by here.

ZAchterbahn still has his car, and a home in Carmel too now, but he no longer visits the site.

Norcal sold his car, but he does pop by to see us here occasionally.

I think that's pretty much covers the absent members of the original crew?

[EDEZ8]

Thank you Andrew for the updates on folks who I remember from when I first joined in 2010. I occasionally exchange posts with ZAchterbahn on the AMG Private Lounge. Give my best to Old Baillie.

[Thackray]

I had and email exchange with Jerry in August 2018 - he had sold his Z8.

[EDEZ8]

I had and email exchange with Jerry in August 2018 - he had sold his Z8.

I am surprised because I so vividly remember his post about having his Z8’s dashboard removed by his detailer for cleaning. That’s a level of passion for cars that luckily escaped me!

Thank you for the update on Jerry.

[Norcal]

Hey, I visit nearly every day! While I did sell my car, this community will always be part of who I am. Some of my most cherished memories and relationships live here.

[EDEZ8]

Hey, I visit nearly every day! While I did sell my car, this community will always be part of who I am. Some of my most cherished memories and relationships live here.

We even see each other from time to time too! Stay well Ian

[macfly]

Ian, so happy to hear, and I'm with you, some of my fondest motoring memories are the ones we shared!

Now that I've returned to my passion for landscape photography in earnest I've bought another Land Cruiser like the one I had from 95-03, and got it all tricked out for serious off road landscape hunting expeditions. Here's a glimpse of my post Z8 life. It's all about getting as far from the tarmac as I can.

[JOEA2]

Beautiful!!!!

Joe

[EDEZ8]

Andrew, your new/returning passion of landscape photography definitely is taking you off the beaten path! As usual, your images tell a story. Have fun and be safe out there on the trails.

[Norcal]

So cool Andrew! Talk about social distancing!

[DLM]

Nice!! Where is that, more or less? Keep the photos coming!
David

[Musta10000]

Beautiful photography! Thanks for posting - keep them coming!

[screenap]

Wow... what a talent you have for capturing amazing visual moments in time!

[macfly]

Thank you, since everyone's sitting home, let me plug my other two sites...

https://www.andrewmacpherson.com is my passion site

https://www.macfly.com is my work site

[jawz]

Great pics, Andrew! Thanks for posting them. That was my life pre-Z8 with a '74 Toyota Land Cruiser (which I still have). Loved those experiences and wouldn't change it for anything. Enjoy the serenity.

[AlpinaOkie]

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately. Hope to get back into it now that the weather is warming up. What better way to social distance than to go for a long solo drive on some twisties.

Thanks for the intelligent dialog here about the virus. I knew I would find that on the forum unlike all the Twitter troll garbage. Today is the day the CDC officially recommended masks.

[Z8DinanS2]

I know that GM's planning to sell his super low milage '03 at this years Sothebys or Christys auction at Pebble Beach, and he's still enjoying his Dinan monster car, but like several of the original members he chose to step into a more private realm.

The same happened with Jerry, who I always really enjoyed as a forum member. I know he'd got very into F-cars, and I'm not sure if he kept his Z8.

Sadly Bob Lacy had a bit of a bad stroke and is no longer really a driver. I believe he sold his car a while back.

Rifle sold his car and moved up to the Chicago area, and no longer pops by here.

Lucky Chuck, Pandaman, Drider and Scott Petit all passed away.

Marty is still very much in the car biz here in LA and I talk to him once every few months, but no longer pops by here.

Old Baillie still has his car, but is planning to sell it soon, and no longer pops by here.

ZAchterbahn still has his car, and a home in Carmel too now, but he no longer visits the site.

Norcal sold his car, but he does pop by to see us here occasionally.

I think that's pretty much covers the absent members of the original crew?

It's sad to see so many forum members have passed It's also surprising to see how many forum members sold or are selling their Z8. I have been fortunate enough (addiction perhaps) to have owned and driven literally countless Ferraris (vintage V12 to modern), half a dozen or so Lamborghinis, V12 Aston Martins, half a dozen Maseratis (including a Ghibli Spider), Jaguars, TVRs, Lotus, Porsches, etc., cars that have been featured on the covers of magazines and regularly seen at topline shows today. And yet, after 35 years of automotive passion/obsession, the one car I can think of no reason to part with is the Z8....and this despite the fact BMW NA is simply awful. The Z8 has curves of a 1950s/60s British E-type/Cobra with their small doors as well, a dash that reminds me of a 250 Lusso, a manual gearbox, relatively lightweight aluminum construction, reliable BMW powertrain (upgradable to ~474 hp with bolt on Dinan parts), upgradable/upgraded modern Brembo 8 piston caliper front/four piston caliper rear brakes, a cockpit that looks like a concept car more than a production car, the largest trunk I've ever had in an exotic car, and it is relatively rare and seemingly loved by everyone without the pushback you get from owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And while Lamborghini and Ferrari produce huge numbers now (e.g., 458/488/F8), of all BMW models the Z8 is the only BMW made in the vein of a 507 (M1 a totally different car) and only about ~5k made and we know BMW will never produce another car like this again as it focuses on blender motor powered cars. Even if I could afford to buy and drive daily a 250 SWB California spider, it would not have the safety nor convenience of the Z8. So I ask, what car would someone buy to replace a Z8?

[Z8DinanS2]

As for the Wuhan Flu, sorry but I'm not PC. We call Champagne Champagne and Dijon mustard Dijon because they come from a region of France. We call Lyme disease Lyme disease as it originated in a town by the same name in Connecticut. Ebola is names after the river where that virus originated from. A name with a place of origin makes something memorable as well as providing a historic bit of information. We know of the evacuation from Dunkirk by its name. Imagine if we called Dunkirk "Rescue-19"? Who would remember that it was Dunkirk? I would bet most people know what a Ferrari Daytona is but not a Ferrari 365GTB/4. We should call the Wuhan Flu the Wuhan Flu IMO.

The Pope made an interesting comment echoing my thoughts: Perhaps this is Mother Nature's way of pushing back! Yes, they are deforesting habitats where wild animals live while also capturing them, treating them horribly, and transporting them to places where they mingle with other species they'd never encounter in nature. No wonder SARS and Wuhan Flu originated this way.

[2112]

As for the Wuhan Flu, sorry but I'm not PC. We call Champagne Champagne and Dijon mustard Dijon because they come from a region of France. We call Lyme disease Lyme disease as it originated in a town by the same name in Connecticut. Ebola is names after the river where that virus originated from. A name with a place of origin makes something memorable as well as providing a historic bit of information. We know of the evacuation from Dunkirk by its name. Imagine if we called Dunkirk "Rescue-19"? Who would remember that it was Dunkirk? I would bet most people know what a Ferrari Daytona is but not a Ferrari 365GTB/4. We should call the Wuhan Flu the Wuhan Flu IMO.

The Pope made an interesting comment echoing my thoughts: Perhaps this is Mother Nature's way of pushing back! Yes, they are deforesting habitats where wild animals live while also capturing them, treating them horribly, and transporting them to places where they mingle with other species they'd never encounter in nature. No wonder SARS and Wuhan Flu originated this way.

Totally agree. Especially on the second paragraph. We need an aggressive worldwide ban on wet markets.

- - - Updated - - -

it is relatively rare and seemingly loved by everyone without the pushback you get from owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

I have owned or driven neither, what do you mean by pushback?

[macfly]

So I ask, what car would someone buy to replace a Z8?

I bought an '07 MB SL550 in colors I love, one owner, 28,000 mile garage queen for 25k. It may not be a Z8, but it's a more comfortable and better built machine that is just fabulous for brisk open road touring and was an absolute bargain.

On the subject of the virus, this is a very eye-catching clip. It has a well woven stream of information, but that said it is produced by those who stand against the Communist Party, so they are obviously trying to make them look as bad as possible. However, it does pull a lot of things together into an interesting enough tapestry to share here.

[Z8DinanS2]

As Jeremy Clarkson notes, when you are looking to enter a turning circle motorists are not so kind to Ferrari/Lambo drivers. Others think folks driving these cars are over compensating for small... Ferrari/Lambo have, now more than ever, thanks in part to ease of leasing, an image of being driven by flashy, show offs and posers.
On the other hand, people just simple to warm instantly to the Z8. It's a bit like the smiling face of an Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite in that regard

[macfly]

Looking back at the wonderful experience of owning the Z8, one of the great joys was how universally loved it was everywhere I took it.

[Z8DinanS2]

I bought an '07 MB SL550 in colors I love, one owner, 28,000 mile garage queen for 25k. It may not be a Z8, but it's a more comfortable and better built machine that is just fabulous for brisk open road touring and was an absolute bargain.

On the subject of the virus, this is a very eye-catching clip. It has a well woven stream of information, but that said it is produced by those who stand against the Communist Party, so they are obviously trying to make them look as bad as possible. However, it does pull a lot of things together into an interesting enough tapestry to share here.

Funny, I just told my Dad not an hour ago the best built car he could buy, dollar for dollar, was an R230 Mercedes. I had an SL600 and SL65. I'd love to find a 2007 SL65 silver/red. That said, I sold me rare SL with 17k miles on it...yet would not sell my Z8 unless someone offered me ridiculous money for it. I understand downsizing, but if one is simply looking to sell the Z8 for a car of similar value, I ask why. Reminds me of Steve McQueen's mistake, one he realized after he sold his XKSS and then desperately wanted it back

[Z8DinanS2]

I bought an '07 MB SL550 in colors I love, one owner, 28,000 mile garage queen for 25k. It may not be a Z8, but it's a more comfortable and better built machine that is just fabulous for brisk open road touring and was an absolute bargain.

On the subject of the virus, this is a very eye-catching clip. It has a well woven stream of information, but that said it is produced by those who stand against the Communist Party, so they are obviously trying to make them look as bad as possible. However, it does pull a lot of things together into an interesting enough tapestry to share here.

Started watching the video.....hmmmmm. So far, so interesting

[Z8DinanS2]

Interesting points, most important to start is there should be, IMO, a commission of scientists from the U.S. and Europe and Asia, genetic experts who conclusively determine the origin and make up of this virus. Sounds very believable that someone in the lab was exposed to this virus and it spread from there. On the other hand, if it spread from Chinese commercial practices then China is liable. So, either way, China, i.e., the Chinese Communist Party, is liable.

[macfly]

Yes, and all the back pedaling and covering up they've been doing is certainly not a good look.