Zukunft & Beyond: BMW Z1

• BMW Z1’s are rare
• Precursor to Z3/SLK/Boxster is smaller than a Miata
• Spec’d below but priced above an 80s 325i convertible

By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via netcarshow.com

THE Z1 holds a curious place in BMW history.

First, the BMW Z car (“Z” meaning Zukunft or future) was considered a commercial failure. Only 8,000 were made; the eight thousandth car likely finding its home at the BMW Museum in Munich.

Second, the ultra lean Z1 was designed and developed by staff that would move on to richer careers with Porsche; Dutch designer Harm LaGaay and German engineer / good corporate Doktor Ulrich Bez were both poached by Porsche at some stage during or following the Z1’s development.

Third, and perhaps most obvious, the Z1 was by design completely unique to the BMW lineup.

Famously, the Bavarian roadster featured electric doors that lowered vertically. Stem to stern, the Z1 was – at 154.4 inches long – an inch shorter than the original Miata.

The li’l Bimmer also featured removable plastic body panels which led to a curb weight of only 2700 lbs, which made it lighter than a MINI.

When the Z1 debuted in 1985, the roadster featured the world’s first high intensity discharge lamps which BMW patented plus the then-unique Z-axle; the multilink suspension that BMW would later use in the E36 3er.

But what made the Z1 seem like an odd sideshow for a company proud in its perceived efficiency was, aside from the fact that mostly Italians bought them, that the roadster never met US safety standards; was marketed as a no frills (i.e. no AC, power seats, etc.) zippy, fun-in-the-sun ride but priced (@ 83K DM) well above the better equipped 3er convertible; and was quickly discounted as soon as it was marketed.

Stranger still were the various production and sales figures. By some accounts BMW had in hand as many as 35,000 orders, but only found roughly a quarter of the number of commitments from 1988-1991. More bizarre: more than half the Z1′s volume was sold in the final production year (4,091 units).

Still, for a car as strangely positioned, the Z1 presents us a fascinating meander in the flow of BMW development.