All Entries Tagged With: "BMW"
Thank Trigger: 1987 CAR Road Comparo 560SEL v 750iL v Turbo R v Sovereign
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img (1987) CAR Magazine via Flickr ::: Road Comparison Test Issue
THUMB through the pictoral mountain that is Flickr and you’ll find an account called “Trigger’s Vintage Road Tests!” It’s awesome. For one thing, “Trigger” posted a 1987 comparison issue from CAR that compared a quartet of 80s luxury rock stars – the BMW 750iL, Bentley Turbo R, Jaguar Sovereign, and Mercedes-Benz 560SEL. Girly squeal! He’s done us auto aficionados a great service. Here’s why:
No Aircon? No Problem. BMW’s Novel Video On Brand Loyalty
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: BMW Video
INSOFAR as Mercedes-Benz continues to cater to its own vintage market, arch-rival BMW has some catching up to do. And indeed, this corporate video is part and parcel of that effort. The idea that a guy would live with his BMW 1602 and without aircon in SoCal because all new cars look the same isn’t unique. But coming from a car company, it is kind of funny.
Thanks, John!
Dirty Diesel: BMW 335d Commercial
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: 2011 BMW 335d Commercial
THIS BMW spot for Super Bowl XLV captures US sentiment on diesels nicely. Check the truck driver at 0:07.
A8: Has Audi Bested Mercedes-Benz and BMW?
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Audi of America ::: 2011 Audi A8
GOOD MORNING inspiration. Has the Audi A8 finally trumped the best from Munich und Stuttgart?
This BMW Commercial Got Lost In Translation
Is it just me or do the covered cars look like e28 5-Series sedans?
Super Bowl Redux: 2009 Jason Statham Audi Commercial
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Statham Audi Commercial Super Bowl XLIII
THE gray lady (NYT) is knocking her knees and spittin’ that this year’s Super Bowl is nigh and so are the car adverts that customarily go with. Audi is seeding expectation, once more, that its new ad will stand out just like all its other ads from years before. On that note, I thought another look at my favorite of these adverts – the 2009 spot for Super Bowl XLIII – which features not only a manic Jason Statham and Audi, but delves back in time to see rivals Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus in play. Too much fun for one commercial.
Shock! BMW Stolen In Detroit! And Other Stories…
by Gunnar Heinrich
READ about thieves making of with one of BMW’s press 760Li’s? The MSRP starts at $137,000 not $90K, ahem, Jalopnik. Or that bit about how the filthy practice that is crude speculation is raising the cost of everyone’s trip to the pump? Reuters. Then there was that recent bit the Globe and Mail about an orphan named Saab stuck outside the Cobo Center in the freezing snow. Have you no heart, GM? So cold. So very cold.
eBay Watch! Toy for Christmas: BMW Z3 2.8
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay Motors ::: 2000 BMW Z3 2.8
KNOWING that more than a few of you likely won’t cotton to this day’s eBay pick, I list the 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 anyway, wary though I am of the probable scorn that awaits. Those who are unaware of the Z3 might ask why the tentative prose?
Classic Beauty: BMW Z8
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: BMW Z8
BMW has sold a few oxbow-lake designs in its time.
The Z8 and the Z1 come right to the top of the list as Bimmers that could’ve been developed further or integrated better or marketed more but were considered too retro or too odd or too much of an already good thing.
Sure, you can see the Z8′s DNA in the wonderful new Z4, but the retro Z8 of the late 90s/ early 00s has been written off like the former thrill of watching a Pierce Brosnan Bond flick. Been there. Done that. That world just isn’t enough.
Our attention and expectations have been diverted to Daniel Craig’s edgier action-jackson Bond in recent years. Much like the relative shock ‘n awe of BMW’s current, beefier lineup. Chalk it up to the inexorable march of time, perhaps. All things change. But I think those classic lines of the BMW Z8 deserve a little more thought. A little more consideration and appreciation.
In an age of the graceless wedge, one design team penned a roadster that dared to be, should I say it? Classic. The Z8 cut it as a BMW boulevardier in a true Dolce Vita sense. In a way, that appeal is timeless. As are the rare Z8′s prices as the roadsters have seen little in the way of depreciation over the past decade – buy-it-now prices are as high as $125K which is near the Z8′s original MSRP.
Sometimes, ox-bow lakes have their virtues.
