When BMW launched the Z3 a few years ago it also commissioned a book about "the romance of the roadster." The book wasn't released to the public, only to a fortunate group of BMW owners and VIP's plus a short list of media types. I was fortunate to be among the latter. Essentially, it is composed of Memoirs of favorite roads by an international roster of automobile journalists, including the estimable David E. Davis. The accompanying photos are superb, the layout first-class, and BMW had no qualms about including a large number of other marques in the story. Typically many of those media writers, having fallen in love with the Z3, later crapped on it when the six-cylinder Z4 with its Bangle creases was introduced. The heck with them, I say, for that original 4-cylinder Z3 was a future collectible and where roadsters are concerned it's handling, not power, that matters most. I was reminded of this when perusing the Hemmings newsletter which featured a very nice piece by David LaChance, directing viewers to a new display at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga, New York, appropriately entitled "The Romance of the Roadster," a display of 15 two-seaters that range from a 1916 Stanley Steamer 726 to a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder and include a 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Zagato, a 1956 Austin-Healey 100M, a 1956 Lancia B24 Aurelia, and a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.

[Photo: Bob McHugh, Canadian Driver]