BMW Z1 Coupe – 1991
Best remembered for its doors, the BMW Z1 was never intended for production – the ‘Z’ stands for ‘Zukunft’, German for ‘future’. It was a design study by the BMW Technik GmbH division, the company’s department in charge of blue sky thinking, hence the doors which slid down into the sills, removable plastic bodywork, flat undertray and innovative multilink rear axle (which actually went into series production). Nevertheless, once unveiled, public demand was such that around 8,000 were sold.
Unfortunately however, the prototype coupe – completed in 1991, the same year the roadster went out of production – never got the same chance. A raised ride height and spotlights in the wing mirrors gave it the air of a sporting off-roader although the sliding doors do look like they would be tricky to navigate with a fixed roof. With a stretched bonnet, rakish windscreen angle and prominent wheel arch blisters it looked every bit as desirable as its sibling. Just imagine it with a couple of snowboards strapped to the roof rails.