A few years can go by quickly in some circumstances, while it can take forever in other instances. Whatever you may think of the joint partnership between BMW and Toyota, the important thing now is that we’re closer than ever to seeing the fruits of that collaboration. A timetable on Toyota’s end is still unclear, but that’s no longer the case with BMW, which is planning to unveil the concept version of the new BMW Z4 at the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance this coming August.

I can try to convince you that I took the news in stride, but that won’t be true at all. While I resisted on actually jumping for joy, I did let out a sigh of relief now that we’re about to get a good first look at the BMW sports car that was born out of the German automaker’s partnership with its Japanese counterpart. For a while, we knew next to nothing about the BMW-Toyota partnership other than both companies were developing new sports cars with the help of the other. That status remained unchanged for a while, a testament to the level of secrecy that both companies agreed to as part of the working parameters in their partnership. But now that both cars are scheduled to be unveiled soon, we’re finally getting what we’ve all been waiting for. Make no mistake, the Pebble Beach-bound BMW Z4 Concept will be the prelude to the actual production model, which itself is scheduled to start production in November 2018.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

All roads lead to Pebble Beach for the BMW Z4 Concept

2012. That’s when news first broke that BMW and Toyota were launching a partnership together. At that time, nobody knew what the parameters of the deal were and it literally took a few years for enough details to be pieced together. Now we know what the partnership is about, but it took us more than four years to get to this point. If the auto industry had an award for the best slow-play in the world, BMW and Toyota would be co-winners.

Ok, now it’s time to look ahead to the fruits of this partnership. Toyota is scheduled to bring back the Supra name whereas BMW will be introducing the third-generation Z4. We’ll save our thoughts on the Supra for another time because the upcoming arrival of the Z4 Concept at Pebble Beach means that we’re closer to seeing what BMW developed from this partnership than Toyota.

Right now, we know that the Z4 will carry a soft-top configuration similar to the first two generations of the model. We also know that it’s going to feature a number of powertrains, including a possible turbocharged four-cylinder pot that will produce 195 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. Expect the sports car to also feature a choice of gearboxes, with some of them coming as extra options. One gearbox we know is going to be used is a six-speed manual so for those who like their Z4s with an extra punch of driving challenges, that manual transmission is going to prove especially exciting. Production for the Z4 is tipped to start on November 2018, a few months after BMW starts production of its other big upcoming model: the 8 Series.

As for the return of the Toyota Supra, word has it that a concept version of that sports car will make its debut a few months after the Z4 with the most likely event being the Tokyo Auto Show in October 2017.

Read our full review on the BMW Z4 here.