BMW Australia has announced that it is seeking approval to import a very limited number of five of the stunning BMW Z8 roadsters for Australian classic vehicle collectors.

The Z8s, which will retail at $320,000, will be in left-hand drive as the vehicle is only produced in left-hand drive, with no plans to produce right-hand drive, given the hand-built nature of the ultimate BMW roadster.

Owners will not be able to register the Z8 and they will be sold as display or collector vehicles only, however there is a possibility for individual owners to apply for conditional registration, with such requests being dealt with subject to the various state regulations on a case by case basis.

The five BMW Z8s imported into Australia will be provided on a no cost options basis, fully fitted with all standard features, including hard top English language controls, on-board computer and BMW Navigation. Owners will be able to specify from a choice of four exterior colours, being black, light red, titanium silver and topaz blue, with a full leather interior provided in either black, sports red with black, cream with black or cream.

BMW Australia is very excited at the prospect of providing this unique and instantly collectible automotive masterpiece to a limited number of Australian collectors, making it probably the most rare BMW ever sold in this country.

The BMW Z8 roadster features the 5 litre V8 M powerplant from the M5 and 6 speed manual transmission, which provides the vehicle with astounding performance and make it the fastest accelerating production vehicle ever, with the ability to sprint from 0 to 100 km per hour in 4.7 seconds.

The Z8 was first shown to the Australian public at the recent Melbourne International Motorshow and at the Australian Grand Prix. Deliveries of the BMW Z8 are expected to occur by mid-2000.