This is the Alpina version of BMW's Z1* roadster, the 63rd of 66 Alpina-modified Z1s built. Not much of a surprise, then, that it's mostly unknown. The Z1 on which it was based, however, was produced in 8,000 examples from early 1989 through mid-1991. The reason it's unknown in the USA is that it was never imported here.
The Alpina RLE version of the Z1 was powered by a 200 horsepower 2.7 liter inline six, an improvement of 32 hp over the 2.5 liter sohc six in the standard car. Beyond that, the RLE has stiffer suspension, 17 inch wheels replacing standard 15 inchers, and in this case wheel arch extensions that didn't always appear on the Alpina verson. Features unchanged from the standard car include the signature vertically-retracting doors, trim aerodynamic contours rendered in plastic with tight front and rear overhangs, and a flush underpan with contoured muffler and bumper air extractor aimed at increasing downforce.
In essence then, the strong points of the Alpina Z1 are the same ones of the basic Z1, which included a steel chassis with high structural side sills for impact protection (the reason for those drop-down doors), plastic body panels which BMW claimed could be removed in 40 minutes (actual elapsed time was a multiple of that), and a multi-link rear suspension, one of the first in a BMW, that appeared later on in the E36 Three Series.
It also shared the trim and tidy nose of the standard car (shown below) which was designed to induce downforce...
When BMW management decided to build its first 2-seat roadster since the 507* in the mid-1980s, they formed a new engineering team called BMW Technik under the direction of Ulrich Bez; body design was in the hands of Dutch industrial designer Harm Lagaay. The prototype was shown in late summer of 1987, and production began just over a year later. Orthopedic, form-fitting seats were unusual for the period; these can be seen in the photo below. The windows retract automatically when the doors are lowered, and can be operated independently when the doors are up. Unlike cars with swinging doors, the Z1 can be driven with doors open, but this is not legal in all countries or in the USA...
This BMW Technik team also studied a coupe version of the Z1 which failed to advance beyond the prototype stage. This seems a pity, as the overall form was more convincing than the coupe which was produced years later on the Z3 chassis…tidy, crisp and timeless, with only the fussiness of the headlights (here just sketched in) and tail lights as distractions...
The photo below shows the revised nose profile of the coupe, which approached the form of future BMW sedans more than it did the Z1 roadster. The tiny door opening perhaps highlights a reason the coupe wasn't approved for production; at least on the roadster you could always lower the top for easier access.
Despite claimed advance orders for 35,000 cars, BMW was never able to produce more than 20 per day. This, along with the initial price of 45,000 Euros, put a brake on delivery of completed cars. Owing to the limited space behind the dash, the Z1 was never available with air conditioning, but driving down a winding road with the doors wide open and the wind in your hair, you'd probably never miss it.
Photo Credits:
Top thru 3rd from top: the author
4th: executive cars
5th: xehay.vn
6th: flatout.com.br
7th & 8th: bmw technik
*Footnotes:
Further notes on the BMW Z-1 can be found in the blog archives for April 24, 2016, in "The Car Search Part 2: The Fun Factor." A sketch of the BMW 507 story can be found in the blog archives for May 1, 2016 under "Max Hoffman: An Eye for Cars and the Studebaker Porsche."
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