BMW Z8 Steve Jobs owned is being auctioned by Sotheby’s

Photo by Karissa Hosek, Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The BMW-branded Motorola flip-phone Steve Jobs was said to despise.

Jobs was not the only owner of the car. Jobs had the BMW Z8 for three years. He sold it to an owner in Los Angeles in 2003. That owner sold it to a tech executive in San Francisco in 2004. And then, missing the car, the second owner bought the silver convertible back in April 2006.

The fact that Jobs owned this BMW Z8 is pushing the price up. But generally, the BMW Z8 model has, even without the cachet of being owned by the famed Apple executive, increased in price, according to Autotrader, an online resource for buying and selling cars.

“The BMW Z8 is worth a ton of money. While other early-2000s BMW models have depreciated quickly, like the used vehicles they are, the Z8 hasn’t. In fact, it’s done the opposite. The Z8 is a 14-year-old BMW that has gained in value,” writes Autotrader’s Doug DeMuro.

When the BMW Z8 came out it cost $129,000 and now the convertibles regularly go for more than $200,000, says DeMuro.

“So how did the Z8 do so well on the used market? One reason is, of course, its beautiful styling,” says DeMuro. “Effectively a modern take on the gorgeous BMW 507, the Z8 is arguably the most beautiful car of the last 20 years — a vehicle that dabbles in ‘retro,’ and dabbles in ‘futuristic,’ and somehow manages to look good doing both.”

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