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Justin Timberlake and the supergroup that catapulted him to stardom, NSYNC, aren’t known as automotive historians. However, when the group was at peak popularity, fans would watch their music videos on MTV. One of their videos, accompanying the single “Bye Bye Bye,” featured a woman in a BMW Z3 chasing JC Chasez and Lance Bass as they evaded in a Dodge Viper. Not quite a match made by a car enthusiast.

Justin Timberlake or anyone else in NSYNC would have no issue giving the slip to a BMW Z3 in a 450-horsepower Dodge Viper

The BMW Z3 is no stranger to screen time. Hell, Pierce Brosnan drove the diminutive convertible onto the silver screen in “Goldeneye,” the first of his four James Bond films. However, the Z3 isn’t exactly, well, muscular. Even the rare, unhinged post-2000 Z3 M cars topped out at 315 horsepower courtesy of the E46 M3’s inline-six-cylinder mill. 

However, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, and the rest of NSYNC released “Bye Bye Bye” in 2000. It was one of the singles on their album “No Strings Attached,” and, as such, it warranted an attention-grabbing video. And attention-grabbing it was, Justin Timberlake and company danced on puppet strings and, you guessed it, drove a Dodge Viper to escape their puppetmaster.

A First-gen Dodge Viper requires the work of a good driver to negotiate corners without oversteer.
A Dodge Viper | Sue Thatcher via iStock

Unfortunately for fans of “The Social Network” actor and musician Justin Timberlake, he wasn’t in the Viper in the chase scene. Instead, JC Chasez and Lance Bass were the sole occupants of the Dodge Viper in the video. I can hear the “duh” already; BMW Z cars tend to be two-seater roadsters, save for a few hard-top coupes.

Chasez and Bass aren’t alone on the twisty road, though; they’re followed by the string-holding woman from earlier scenes. She gives chase in a BMW Z3 Roadster, hardly a match for the Dodge Viper. Specifically, the Viper produced 450 horsepower courtesy of a V10 engine. Fangs fully out, the Viper was good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint of just 4.0 seconds.

It’s hardly comparable to the charming little BMW roadster. The music comes to an abrupt halt when the pair of daredevils nearly hit a 1970 Dodge Charger cruising around the corner.