another interesting car

Hi, sorry to post here instead of the BMw forum, but I am hoping someone has some "inside" knowledge.

A friend recently told me about a unique car that BMw made that is completely recyclable...I think it's called the Z1. Looking on the show and display list, I see that it is one of the allowed cars, even though over 7,000 units were produced! What makes them so special--LL bean on the inside?

Have any been sold in the US? Anyone know anything about this quirky car? How are they to drive? Could they handle a winter in, say, New Hampshire? If you did recycle them, could you get 100 pages and a bowtie out of them? Lol!

Same friend also claimed a while back that he could get Porsche 959s in for a $10,000 fee because of some special relationships he used to enjoy. I told him to go play his violin elsewhere. In fact, I called him violin959 for a while. If anyone is experienced in these matters, what would the fee include? I wonder what JK, JL, or LL would charge...maybe a certain Porsche collector knows?

I am just asking for some basic info here, nothing secret...it's not as if I have filled out a Freedom of Information Act request or anything. I could call my friends and ask directly, but it seems the people behind this farce have either retired or transferred. The S&D program seems to be run much better these days, though.

Please be safe this July 4th weekend. If I post from the East Coast, will my timestamp change?

Faisal.

Incidentally, I was given a long ride in an F1 roadcar today. We used up a good amount of it's 2,500 mile allocation! It was a pretty hot day, and the airconditioner worked just fine! It's one hell of a fast car!

:eek: You were out in XP4!!!!

pictures please! I hope

As for the Z1, I've heard of it, saw some pics and know a bit about it. I think it had sometihng around a 3 liter engine and was the only cra in the world in which the doors would roll down like the windows! (The windows rolled down normally and then the doors would follow suit) As far as I know there weren't many if none shipped to the US, but I have seen some for sale in Israel and GB.

They look okay, nothing spectacular, but the recyclabe bit is of interest. I know they made them in the early 1990's and that's about it.

As for what makes them special, I couldn't tell you, maybe it's some of the things listed above, or a combination of them or maybe it's North American ellusiveness, I only found out aobut them a couple fo years ago, you seemed to have made it a much more recent find, and I think only the true enthusiasts know a great deal about them.

Thanks for the info on the Z1. I am also gathering some interesting information on the CLK-GTR and the GWagen program...it's really amazing what you can find out when you know where to look or who to ask!

As I have said before, I got raped on the factory pics, so no more free pics!!! But we can always work out a trade!

That's not all I was in today. This is going to sound horribly like boasting, so please understand that's not my intent.

I met a collector of movie stuff who owns some incredible machinery. Batmobiles. The DeLorean from Back to the Future. The James Bond stunt plane. Munster mobile. Movie props like rocket launchers, Darth Vader animatronics, etc. etc. He has about 7 warehouses full of incredibly interesting stuff.

Anyways, he bought the two submersibles that were the Ahab boats in the Vin Diesel movie XXX. I was in them today. They really work. I mean, they float, zoom forward under their own power, and steer like a proper boat. The guns, canopies, etc. are all motorized and move back and forth. They also shoot stuff using 300 psi of air pressure!

http://www.autosalon-singen.de/Katalogfahrzeug_RecordView_DetailAll.cfm?fahrzeugI D=04524_0011_06_08&languageID=GB

jkbon,
merci beaucoup!
-f

I love the Z1 - I actually have about 200 photos I've collected of it from around the net. Quirky little car, sort of odd looking, but I think that's part of it's charm. I had the same question you did when I saw it on the S&D list. Someone must have REALLY wanted one to go through the trouble of getting it approved. I hadn't heard the part about the whole car being recyclable - that's kind of interesting.

They weren't ever offered for sale here, but amazingly about 2 yrs before the S&D legislation was introduced I did see one near my home in SoCal. I thought maybe it was a foreigner who had brought his car in on a short term Visa. I also live fairly close to "Designworks" which is BMWs west coast design studio here in the States, so it might have had something to do with them. I can't imagine what use they'd have for a car that at that time was growing old and either already discontinued or about to be at the time of my sighting.

= = = = =

XP4 ?? Really?? .....sigh

Jealous isn't even the word, let me tell you. Congrats though - there aren't going to be many people who can say they've even seen that car, not to mention gotten some seat time. Is there an admission price I could pay? -hehe

>8^)
ER

So you noticed the Show and Display shenanigans involved too! Interestingly, if you search on the web, you will find posts from someone trying to sell a Z1 a couple of years ago, claiming it's the only legal one in the US, and that every other one is here illegally. Now doesn't S&D apply to all of them? Hmm.

I hear far-reaching indictments are not too far off...

The Z1 uses the 2.5-liter inline-6 from the E30 325i (1987-91). It has 167hp and 164 ft-lbs of torque. I think the body is aluminum and can be recycled. Might that make it one of the first all-aluminum production cars?

The suspension is special as it used BMW's "Z-axle" in the rear. Basically the same as what is found under and E36 3-series (1992-99) and the E46 3-series (1999-present). The front suspension was standard E30 - also similar to the E36. But the car was 5 years or so earlier than the E36.

I also don't understand the car's appeal that much. It would have been much cooler if it had the M3's 2.3 or 2.5 liter four. The inline-6 is fine (I've had two) but I think the car's character would have been better matched to the M3 motor.

I know of at least one in the US. It is owned by one of our customers and he has several BMWs. If I could remember his name I would tell you what state he is in.

i have an article on one, i'll scan it tomorrow

Moved to BMW Z1 forum, so discuss without fear of being off-topic. ;)

(Don't be scared of using the other forums, guys... Variety is the spice of life... :p )

Originally posted by drewwtms
I think the body is aluminum and can be recycled. Might that make it one of the first all-aluminum production cars?


The body is composite with a steel chassis, and all the body panels can be switched to other body panels of different colors in less than an hour. So for the week you drive a green car and on the weekend you got a red car.

http://www.bmwz1.co.uk/

dammit, wrong picture:

i went to germany this past summer and went to a musieam that had one of these and also about 6 porsche 959s both models sport and comfort. any way i had seen one of these and these cars are sweet hell id take one over an jag xke

Hello,
If you are still looking for Z1 pics, here are some of a white one I saw in Belgium.
It is the first white I saw. There is also a yellow one in the area.
The doors that slide down are one of the things that make the Z1 special.
Remember that it was also before the Z3 and Z4, and BMW wasn't then making roadster, so that made it also special back then.

http://authomobilia.blogspot.com/2010/09/bmw-z1-bruges-belgium.html

See you,
Thom.

So you noticed the Show and Display shenanigans involved too! Interestingly, if you search on the web, you will find posts from someone trying to sell a Z1 a couple of years ago, claiming it's the only legal one in the US, and that every other one is here illegally. Now doesn't S&D apply to all of them? Hmm.

I hear far-reaching indictments are not too far off...