About 30 years ago, BMW shocked the automotive world by introducing a sexy and technically unique 2 place, drop-top sports car prototype at the Frankfurt Motor Show. This exciting show car was the first creation to come from BMW’s new skunk works – BMW Technik GmbH. This was a group of over 50 forward thinking automotive engineers headed by automotive design legend, Dr. Ulrich Bez.
Formed in 1985, BMW Technik’s mission was to drive innovation and foster new ideas that would find their way to the product line – back then BMW’s product offerings were dominated by very conservative, notwithstanding sporty sedans. What made the Z1 prototype so exciting was the fact that, while it had all of the styling cues and exciting design touches of a purely futuristic fantasy, its basic mechanical components – engine, transmission and most brake components – were all right out of the E30 parts bin and therefore were readily available and proven reliable. That meant, the prototype wouldn’t be merely an engineering or marketing exercise. It would eventually see production. Like I said, very exciting.
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