The 2002 BMW Z3 brings the rewards of six years of consistent and conscientious development and improvement. The exciting, odd-looking Z3 was BMW's contribution to the rebirth of the sports car that began with the Mazda Miata and has included the Mercedes-Benz SLK, Toyota MR-2 Spyder and other two seaters. However, the 1996 Z3 didn't reach the company's high standards of refinement, in particular with its suspension, but all of that began being corrected almost immediately.

And now we have the 2002 Z3. Its sawed-off looks haven't changed much (though now they're fully accepted). But the engine has jumped from the original 138-horsepower 1.9-liter four-cylinder to an available 225-horsepower 3.0-liter six-cylinder, reducing 0 to 60 mph acceleration performance from about 8 seconds to less than 6.

As the last model of its generation, the original Z3 won't get any better than this.