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Steve Jobs' BMW Z8 for auction

Apple founder admired the German roadster for its innovation – so he bought one

Steve Jobs BMW Z8
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Though it has only 24,456km showing on the odometer and looks to be immaculate, this BMW Z8’s biggest draw is not its almost perfect state.

This Z8 was first owned by the most famous of Apple’s founders, Steve Jobs.

With an estimated list price of between AUD$391,000 and $521,500, the German roadster has no reserve.


RM Sotheby’s, the auction house in charge of the sale, says Jobs was convinced to buy the Z8 by fellow tech icon and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who told Jobs the car was “a paragon of modern automotive engineering and ergonomics.”

Obviously enough to convince jobs to buy it, the V8 drop-top was later registered to Jobs’ personal address, something he reportedly avoided doing in an effort to maintain his privacy.

The car in question comes with the paperwork from that sale, which in itself is probably worth a significant amount to the right person.

 It seems that Jobs enjoyed the BMW 507-inspired styling and the car’s performance, but not enough for him to holds onto the car for any longer than three years, at which point he sold it to its current owner.

The unnamed seller decided to keep the car in action rather than turn it into a museum piece, which is how it clocked up its kilometres – though its odometer still totals less than 1500km per year.

The car has still been kept original, with service history and, according to RM Sotheby’s, all of its original equipment.

 “The car comes with a plethora of important accessories, including its proper hardtop and hardtop stand, car cover, owner’s and service manuals, service records, two keys, navigation CDs, and – most significantly, its original BMW-branded Motorola flip-phone.

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jobs was known to have hated the Motorola phone.”

Chris Thompson
Contributor
Karissa Hosek

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