With a BMW Z1 you already place yourself in the spotlight, but according to some it can be even more crazy. What about this deep blue with a fire red interior? Then you get a Superman combination and exactly that nickname he has been wearing since his show (room) position at the Dutch importer. Oh yes, he is one of a kind.
Text & photography: Aart van der Haagen
In enthusiast circles, such as the BMW Z1 Club Netherlands, you have to make an effort to cause a sensation in a collection with only collector's items. With production number 6728 from 1991, the last year of construction, you are assured of success. Not one other order form ever mentioned the combination of Pur Blau Metallic on the plastic body panels and a garish red interior.
Visitors to BMW Group Netherlands between 1991 and 1995 may have stumbled upon Superman just like that. When he cheerfully colored the showroom in Rijswijk and drew the attention of the guests to the creative excesses of the brand. Indeed, the importer ordered this Z1 in Pur Blau Metallic with a bright red interior for himself. In a combination that would certainly make tongues loose. No asphalt at all slipped under the wheels during those four years. With which the car remained virgin, until the moment that a private candidate presented himself with the intervention of a dealer.
High threshold
The Z1 is the first major project of BMW Technik GmbH. A department founded in early 1985 that was allowed to focus on the development of innovative concepts and technologies. In fact, the prototype unveiled in 1986, designed under the direction of Harm Lagaay, served as a moving shop window. After the presentation of the consumer version at the IAA Frankfurt in 1987, it soon dawned on BMW that the intended production limit of 4000 pieces would be hopelessly behind demand. When the tires started running a year later, the number of orders was already around 3500. That is why the decision was made to raise the upper limit to 8000.
Buyers had to step over a high threshold and by this we do not even mean access to the cockpit, but the purchase price. A total of 96 Dutch people turned out to be willing to pay 145.000 guilders for about Z1. An amount for which the dealer also lovingly delivered a 735iL to you. Most copies then waited for a ticket in a dark garage, with only the occasional chance to play outside. Even Superman has rarely been allowed to show his skills and given the oh's and ah's that the color combination generates, that is quite a shame.
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