FORGET the family for a week, I thought. Well, look at this heavenly beauty for yourselves - I defy any family man not to think it.
This car isn't about being happily married with two kids, for goodness sake. It's about being single, vanity and having the freedom to get up and go wherever and whenever.
And go it alone I did, apart from taking my wife for a couple of spins. Boy, did I enjoy it. The BMW Z4 looks positively shark-like to me.
I don't know how sharks feel amid a shoal of lesser fish, but other car drivers seemed to view the Z4 with the same wary looks the tiddlers of this world give a predator.
Their covetous eyes were drawn to it admiringly, yet with the recognition that this roadster could easily burn their vehicles up on the open road. One thing's for sure, they certainly weren't looking at me!
Roadsters have, of course, played a key role in BMW's history and the award-winning Z4 - it won the Roadster category on its debut in the What Car? Car of the Year 2004 awards - is set to write another success chapter in the open top story.
A real head-turner, the Z4's principal styling feature is its bold waistline. The upper waistline extends from the headlamp across the top edge of the bonnet, dipping through the door handle before rising to create the muscular rear wheel arch. By contrast, the lower waistline extends under the door before rising up at the back of the door.
Let's face it, this car looks great. It's sleek, sexy, and comes in a choice four non-metallic and six metallic colours.
But it's not just the exterior which commands attention. The interior is a triumph of ergonomics and is designed to balance its comfortable cabin with a driving position that feels cocooned and low to the ground.
From the driver's perspective, the dashboard combines design purity and traditional roadster practicality.
The dash binnacle, housing a circular speedometer, rev counter, fuel and temperature gauges, dominates the view with robust but elegant switchgear falling easily to hand.
Both the dashboard and low-slung seating position ensure the driver feels connected with the Z4, with the seat location 20mm nearer the tarmac and 40mm further back in the wheelbase than it was on the old Z3.
The standard sports seats are comfy and envelope the occupants. They are available in four different cloth and leather combinations, with an angle and reach adjustable steering column also fitted as standard.
While it clearly has a sports car feel, the Z4 also offers some practicality with large door pockets, a ten-litre capacity storage box between the seats and a 260-litre boot - big enough for two sets of golf clubs.
The boot is a surprisingly good size and owes much to BMW's innovative variable soft-top storage compartment. With the roof down, 20 litres of storage space is taken up by the convertible roof.
When the roof is raised, a lever in the boot collapses the soft-top compartment leaving the roof storage space to be used as boot space.
And talking of the roof, the BMW Z4 holds a world record. It has the fastest retracting fully automatic convertible roof in the world.
Proving handy for the UK's regular downpours, it retracts fully in less than ten seconds with a simple push of a button and comes as standard on the 2.5i and 3.0i cars.
FAST FACTS
BMW Z4 2.2i SE
Price: £24,355
Mechanical: 170bhp, 2,171cc, 6cyl petrol engine driving rear wheels via 5-spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 140mph
0-62mph: 7.7secs
Combined mpg: 32.1
Insurance group: 17
CO2 emissions: 214
BiK rating: 28%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 2yrs paint; 6yrs anti-rust