1989 | BMW Z1

BMW 1989
1989 BMW Z1 Roadster
Rare & immaculate condition
Full leather interior
Low miles

The Z for these cars stood for Zukunft - Future in English as this was the first of what BMW envisaged to be a concept range of 2 seater convertibles

The bodies were made out of special materials (thermoplastic), rather than alloy or steel, with under trays, as aerodynamics were a focus of the vehicle design.

The flat plastic under tray is used for ground effect aerodynamics and the rear bumper - in conjunction with the aerodynamically shaped exhaust tail pipe - forms a diffuser to reduce rear lift.

Similarly the front end induces a high-pressure zone just forward of the front wheels to increase front-wheel traction

The Z1 also had a new rear suspension set up, which was so effect that BMW introduced it into other cars in their range

Again BMW improved the painting process designing a special flexible lacquer finish but the most obvious design feature is the novel manner in the which open and close

They disappear into the sill, and pop up again at the press of a button - brilliant stuff !!

We've probably owned about 5 now, although this is the only 1 in green, for of the 8000 produced most were painted red

By the way all were produced in LHD only

There only 4 other colours, most had cloth or cloth and leather interior, so a full leather interior and a green body makes this example very, very rare

We purchased this superb Z1 from our friend, who purchased her in 2001 (so 24 years of ownership) whilst he owned a few BMW official dealerships

The Z1 came to him in part exchange, and he called his friend from Hexagon who confirmed that the motorcar had a full history prior to his purchase, as the book pack had been misplaced

As it is such a rare car he chose to keep her and display her in his showrooms, and use her for model launches etc etc

So during his ownership the mileage was negligible, although serviced here and there by his BMW service team and even had a new roof fitted to match the overall condition (they are for sale now at about £ 3.500 plus fitting) so useful not to have to buy another now.

Everything seems to work properly, (that's BMW from the eighties for you), with electric windows & door mirrors, central locking and power steering too

The seats are really comfortable, made by Recaro specially for the Z, which really hug you into position

Under the bonnet sits slightly canted over to keep the bonnet line low, a sweet 2.5 litre 6 cylinder engine (168 bhp) engine that spins up easily, mated to a Getrag 5 speed gearbox, so she is rather nippy and holds the road with amazing tenacity in the corners.

Top speed was 140mph and 60 mph will be hit at just under 8 seconds.

The real buzz though, is when you drive her with the doors down - it is quite amazing and like no other car on the road

You can even touch the road from the seat should you wish (I wouldn't recommend doing this whilst driving......... )

She has chassis number 00290, which denotes a very early production time, at the time of launch many orders were being sold at a premium

We will carry out a full service & MoT prior to purchase plus we will be fitting a new set of tyres

Two sets of keys and a full tool kit (more than un-usual) a period brochure as well as the invoices from the last 24 years of ownership come with her, making her a complete and fantastic example

You don't find many for sale in Green (Urgrun), especially with the full leather interior, with low mileage and the provenance of a BMW dealer ownership for the last 24 years behind her either.