Bond and his Beemer

By Alastair Sloane

Once upon a time, British Secret Service agent James Bond had to be seen in a British car. Anything less was inconceivable for a chap who had served in the Royal Navy, was dressed by a Saville Row tailor and who liked the martini at his club shaken not stirred.

Not any more - not since German carmaker BMW locked up a renewable deal to have a BMW in every picture. The days of Sean Connery and his Aston Martin cutting Oddjob and Goldfinger off at the pass and Roger Moore emerging from the sea in his Lotus Esprit have long gone.

In the last two Bond movies, 007 Pierce Brosnan has handled three BMWs - the Z3 roadster, the 7-Series luxury saloon and the Cruiser R1200C motorbike. And soon Brosnan will fiddle with a fourth - the Z8, the most powerful BMW roadster yet.

The car will make its debut in The World is Not Enough, the new Bond adventure opening in New Zealand on November 25. Bond will no doubt use the Z8 to flee more fiends, most probably speeding away with a beautiful blond at his side.

That's his world. In our world the blond's long gone and the car won't get here until late next year or early 2001. We don't even know the price yet.

The Z8 is already a bit special, though, even before Bond's boss "Q" and his gadget-men trick up the car. It is powered by a 5-litre V8 producing 300kW and 500Nm of pulling power, something that Bond himself has never lacked.

The engine is from the M5 sedan and will hurtle the Z8 from zero to 100 km/h in under 5 sec and on to a top speed of 250 km/h.

The chassis is a weight-saving aluminium space frame design and body panels are made of aluminium and polyurethane.

The Z8 comes with the usual safety aids, including airbags, anti-lock ABS brakes and Dynamic Stability Control, an electronic device which will stop 007 and his female passenger going backwards through a hedge