2000 BMW M5

The first two iterations of BMW's high performance sedan built on the 5-series platform used the classic inline-six motors for which the manufacturer was famous. When the E39-based version of the M5 debuted for the 1999 model year, however, it packed a brawny V-8 under the hood.

The S62, displacing 4.9 liters, was an all-aluminum DOHC 32V V-8 that featured BMW's double-VANOS system, which gave variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust valves. Each cylinder had its own throttle body and the compression ratio was 11.0:1. The result was a motor that wailed out 400 SAE net horsepower at 6,600 RPM.

In Car and Driver's testing, the 2000 M5 hurtled to sixty in only 4.8 seconds and dispatched the quarter mile in 13.3 seconds at 108mph through the traps. Top speed was measured at 156, it circled the skidpad at 0.90g, and the brakes hauled it to a stop from 70 in 156 feet. The car easily outperformed the Jag XJR and E55 AMG Benz against which it was pitted in the test and is one of the last times C/D reviewed an M5 without having to insert caveats.

Price as tested was $73,874, which is about $140k in current money.

This one was photographed in August of 2021 using a Hasselblad Lunar and a Sony Vario-Tessar T* 16-70mm f/4 zoom lens.

2000 Mercury Cougar

The Cougar nameplate started at Mercury as a more upmarket and "Euro-flavored" variant of the Ford Mustang, but during the bloated 1970s morphed into a plush-bottomed version of the Thunderbird personal luxury coupe.

With coupe sales slowing in the latter half of the Nineties, FoMoCo axed a number of sporty two-doors. Not only did the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar, as well as their Lincoln Mark VIII cousin get 86'ed, but Ford lost the Probe and Mercury dealers waved goodbye to the little Capri roadster.

However, Ford had been deep into the development process for a third generation of the Probe. Unlike the first two iterations, this one was developed off the in-house Contour platform. As a consolation prize for Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, it was rebadged as the new Mercury Cougar, reviving the nameplate after a one-year hiatus.

Unlike all previous Cougar versions, the new one was front-wheel drive, and its New Edge styling motif and price definitely marketed it towards a younger, less well-heeled demographic than any prior Cougar.

The base Cougar had Ford's Zetec 2.0L DOHC 16V four, rated at 120 horsepower. The more deluxe variant, like this 2000 model in Citrus Gold Clearcoat Metallic (which is going the way of all Ford Clearcoat jobs of that vintage) had the 170hp Duratec 2.5L DOHC 24V V-6.

Car and Driver's long-term 1999 V-6 test car managed the sprint to sixty in an adequate 7.7 seconds and circled the skidpad at a suitably sporty 0.85g. Price as tested was $20,470 (about $39,500 in today's money) which the magazine noted was pretty reasonable for a well-equipped youth-oriented sporty coupe.

The thing is, nobody goes shopping at Lincoln-Mercury dealerships for reasonably priced sporty coupes. After a half-hearted nose-job for 2001, the Cougar was discontinued after the '02 model year.

This one was photographed in May of 2025 using a Canon EOS 40D and an EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lens.

2000 Acura 3.2 TL

For 1996, Acura joined Infiniti and Lexus by relabeling their model lines from having names to a more Euro-sounding alphanumeric soup, and the Accord-derived Acura Vigor became the TL.

1999 saw the second generation of the TL make its debut. Gone was the 2.5 TL, which had been powered by an inline-five, leaving only the V-6 powered 3.2 TL on the U.S. market.

The chassis was entirely new, replacing the earlier longitudinal FWD setup with a more conventional transverse one. In that engine bay was a J32A1 3.2L SOHC 24V V-6 with a 9.8:1 compression ratio and VTEC variable valve timing that delivered 225 SAE net horsepower, a 25 pony bump over the C32A in the previous version. The only transmission available was a 5-speed automatic.

Car and Driver tested a '99 3.2 TL and got a zero-to-sixty time of 7.4 seconds, and generally gave the car high marks in everything but its styling, which was dinged for being too close to its plebeian Accord sister. It placed first in a nine-car field of $30k-ish entry level luxo sedans that included such notables as the Volvo S70GLT and Lexus ES300.

The Satin Silver Metallic one in the picture was snapped in February of 2025 using a Nikon D300S and an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II zoom lens.

2000 Jaguar XJR

Arriving for the '98 model year, in the middle of the "Forduar Era", the X308-series Jaguar XJ sedans were the final iteration of the XJ40 sedan platform that had been around since the mid-1980s.

It was available in several levels of interior swank and underhood earnestness, and the ultimate expression of the latter was the XJR. Discernible by big wheels and meaty rubber and a body-colored grille surround enclosing an aggro-looking stainless steel mesh grille insert, the XJR was the snarliest Jag sedan you could get at the time.

It was powered by a supercharged version of Jaguar's 4.0L AJ V-8 that made 370 forced-induction horsies. Fed through a Mercedes-built 5-speed automatic, this was enough to launch the two-ton sedan to sixty in 5.3 seconds according to Car and Driver's test data. It blasted through the quarter in 13.9 seconds at 103mph and kept going all the way to a buck fifty-four on the top end.

All this goodness didn't come cheap. The Anthracite car in the photo would have come with a price tag of $70,802 in 2000, which comes to about a hundred and thirty grand in today's dollars.

The car in photo was snapped in May of 2022 using a Canon EOS 7D and EF-S 17-85mm f/2.8 IS zoom lens.