Top Gone

Roof and foot down, revs and mood up. Only way to drive the BMW Z4.

- Kartik Ware 

Few things can drag me off a motorcycle. A red convertible sportscar is one of them. And when it happens to be a BMW, I get off said motorcycle with a lot more enthusiasm than if it weren’t. I’m telling you, it’s the fact that the same badge is stuck on motorcycles that has this effect on me. And all of those decades’ worth of learning how to make ‘the ultimate driving machine’ stood before me one dark morning in the shape of the new Z4. Well, almost.

You see, in 2012, BMW tied up with Toyota to co-develop a platform for the new Z4 and the resurrected Supra, so there’s a bit of JDM in there, too. Why did it take so long, you ask? Well, I can’t be sure, but I imagine translating German into and from Japanese must be quite the task. Anyway, so what do we get with BMW’s latest fusion of the last letter and the fourth number (fifth?) on a boot lid? Well, at least for me, mixed reactions for starters.

The Z4 didn’t waste its time trying to win me over with old-fashioned beauty. It simply chased my aesthetic sensibilities away with its slashy aggression. I’m not sure if I like that. I always thought a roadster should be charming rather than scary. However, at least the Z4 projects a proper roadster silhouette — a long and swooping bonnet, a door to keep its driver from falling out, and a tail that ends with the correct amount of abruptness. But this ideal outline is filled with an overdose of geometry.