Most people, when asked to think about BMW's roadsters, will probably imagine the Z3 and Z4. But those cars don't even begin to tell the long, storied tale of open-top, two-seat Bimmers.
Our pals at XCAR recently filmed this BMW roadster retrospective (or roadster-spective, if you will) and they go way, way, waaaaay back into Bavarian history to do it. They start in 1929 with BMW's earliest entry into the car market after making World War I fighter plane engines and motorcycles.
They take a spin in the 327, launched in 1937, "a pleasant and sedate" luxury cruiser for its time despite its raucous exhaust note. From there, it's on to the 328, a race-winning and iconic pre-war sports car.
But the car that took BMW into the modern era of sports cars was the stunning 507, one of the most beautiful roadsters ever made and a favorite of Elvis Presley (after he swapped in an American V8.)
It would be 30 years before BMW got back into the roadster game, and they did so with the fantastically odd Z1, which famously had doors that drop into the body of the car itself. I'm still pissed we Americans never got the Z1. Luckily, we did get the Z8, and that still looks amazing today.
Which one is your favorite?