Z1 prototype

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Jet
Joined: Fri 14 Nov, 2003 16:24
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Z1 prototype

Post by Jet »

Wow, talk about rare. Presumably this could never be road worthy?

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/cla ... 87-bmw-z1/

Looking at this old magazine from 1986, I wonder if this protoype chassis is the car below in reality, although it is dated a year previous? Were electric doors part of the original design as the guy appears to be pulling the door upwards manually and there is no door button?

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Racing Tortoise
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Joined: Mon 07 Nov, 2005 15:53
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Re: Z1 prototype

Post by Racing Tortoise »

Original design really wasn't very pretty!
Currently: bereft of Z1
Previously: 1991 Ur-grun Z1 and 1991 Traum-schwartz Z1
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BBZ149
Joined: Mon 30 May, 2005 14:19
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  Z1 roadster
Location: Planet Mars :-)
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Re: Z1 prototype

Post by BBZ149 »

Jet wrote:Were electric doors part of the original design as the guy appears to be pulling the door upwards manually and there is no door button?
Maybe the belt broke or the battery died :D
Open and close with German style and ingenuity!
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F.Brossaud
Joined: Mon 17 Nov, 2003 16:43
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  Z1 roadster
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Re: Z1 prototype

Post by F.Brossaud »

Hello,
I had the opportunity to see the car by myself few months ago. Owner was very friendly to allow me to see it on a dark evening :wink:

He was never able to get any information about this car from Mobile Tradition (even if VIN is readeable) certainly because at one point BMW must have give it to a company to scrap it but In fact it was not.

I already compared this prototype with all pictures I have from all Z1 books available but I did not succeed to identify which one it was, certainly because these pictures were taken at one time and later the car was modified during development process.

This prototype has the "wide gap" for the regular headlights and also holes to fit reard mirrors in pillar, so I think it is not one of the very first one. The floor is also different that the "production" one made by MBB and the frame itself is different compared to the production one. There are a lot of evidence of "manual" cutting / welding on this frame.

Unless being able to find someone that was working on the project at that time, or BMW decide finally to tell something about it ; I am afraid this frame will remain a mistery...

Frederic
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pingu
Joined: Fri 30 Apr, 2004 16:01
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  M roadster S50

Re: Z1 prototype

Post by pingu »

It's a shame (but understandable) that car companies treat their prototypes and concept cars with such disrespect. There is a programme on Discovery called Mystery Cars and it is all about prototypes and concept cars. They have said that most car companies just scrap their prototypes and concept cars, so we are lucky that any survive.

If I were able to afford to be a real collector, I'd collect these types of cars rather than production cars.
Pingu
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