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I’ve featured a few collectable coupes this week – the 2013 Audi TT RS and the modified M Coupe. But as much as I love the soundtrack of the Audi and the statistics on paper, and as hot as the E36 M Coupe market is, were it my money I was plunking down for a personal coupe it would be the second generation Z4-based M Coupe that would get my attention. And for my Christmas wish, this one would do quite nicely! Interlagos Blue is certainly one of my favorite colors, and the lower miles and pristine shape of this particular example would have me overlooking the all-black leather:
The S54-equipped M Coupe seemed destined to be a collector car right out of the box. With a limited number produced, almost immediately enthusiasts began numbering their cars – there are, in fact, websites that are specifically dedicated to determining just how rare your M Coupe was. In the case of today’s example, it’s a claimed one of nine, and that’s easy to believe – because boil down the multitudes of combinations that were made with the E36/8 M Coupe, and you’ll soon discover that they’re all one of a small number. But this particular M Coupe is even more rare than most, with a host of Dinan and AC Schnitzer upgrades and some of the lowest miles on one today, with only around 1,000 miles a year accrued:
The low mileage Estoril Blue BMW M Coupe we featured last month is back up for sale, on offer at $1,250 less than when we first came across it. Looking to drive a modern icon? I think everyone will agree the Clown Shoe, as it is sometimes called, could be the BMW equivalent of the air-cooled 911 in terms of collectability.
The below post originally appeared on our site November 29, 2014:
The E86 Z4 was a fairly radical departure from the E36/8 that it replaced. In many ways, the Z3 was born out of a series of spare parts and in some ways almost seemed an afterthought. It wasn’t as innovated as the Z1 and while the original M Coupe has become a fan favorite, the Z3 just overall seemed the odd-man out in the BMW lineup. On top of that, the design just overall hasn’t aged particularly well in my mind. But in 2002, the redesigned Anders Warming penned E85 Z4 roadster launched. It was bigger in every dimension, with cutting edge new styling that managed to incorporate both round and angular designs into one fluid package that somehow worked well. Over a decade on, it still looks quite new to me – one of the best tests of the staying power of a design. Also one of the best tests is that it was somewhat controversial at the time, but by 2006 and the launch of the M models most critics were convinced that it was a nice package. The addition of the stellar S54 powertrain certainly didn’t hurt, and with just 1,800 examples of the new Coupe design in the U.S., it was guaranteed classic status. But that hasn’t stopped some from converting the coveted Coupes into race cars, such as this Fall-Line Motorsports built wide body:
As Wagon Week comes to a close, we’ve got a little halfling. If you were to ask a layperson if a shooting brake was a wagon, they might say yes, and the hatch certainly taps into some of the same styling cues. Can we at least count them as longroofs? Regardless, I’ve made my love for the clownshoe known, and it’s looking like I better consider them a little more seriously as even S52-engined years are climbing in value. This is a clean example in Texas, but it’s not extraordinary and is a bit weak on description.
