1990 BMW Z1

• A lovely, UK-supplied, left-hand drive example of these innovative little roadsters
• Finished in Top Red with a Grey/Black interior. Just 52,000 miles
• From a private collection. Owned by our vendor since 1994 and just two previous keepers
• Supplied with its original service book and 16 old MOT certificates along with a few receipts
• Expensive when new and rare today. Distinctive looks and cool doors guarantee continued popularity

Of all the BMW Z cars, the Zukunft tag is arguably most fittingly applied to the Z1, a car that even now, thirty years after it first went on sale, looks fresh and modern. The Z1 used a skeletal frame on which the body panels were mounted, making it incredibly stiff, banishing scuttle shake and giving the car superb handling. The body panels were made of plastic, mounted on a substructure of hot-dipped galvanised pressed steel and the seams were continuously zinc welded, adding 25 per cent to body stiffness. The side panels and doors were made from General Electric's Xenoy injection-cast thermoplastic, the bonnet and boot lid were glass-reinforced plastic and the whole body was painted in a special flexible lacquer.

State of the art thinking was evident in every aspect of the car's design. Those magnificent doors were operated by toothed belts which lowered both the window and door at the touch of a button. It could be driven with the soft-top closed or open; windows closed or open; or doors open or closed and, with everything open, the fun Z1 is said to feel just like a four-wheeled motorcycle! The car used the innovative Z-axle suspension set-up at the rear and also featured some clever aerodynamics, the front being designed to create a high-pressure zone ahead of the wheels to induce downforce whilst the aerofoil-shaped rear silencer helped to decrease turbulence and lift. The engine is one of BMW's finest in the form of the M20B25 unit taken from the E30 325i. The Z1 is special in every sense of the word, it's special to look at, to sit in and to drive and importantly, as the years have passed, people have clearly started to appreciate it as prices have soared. This is a marvellous little car with almost universal appeal and is, without a doubt, one of BMW's finest moments of the past thirty years.

G264 TTO was first registered on the 15th of March 1990 and is a genuine UK-supplied, left-hand drive car unlike so many other examples that have been offered on the open marketplace. Finished in Top Red with a black and grey interior, it's been relaxing in our vendor's 25-car collection for some 27 years and appears to have had just two keepers prior to him. It has covered an indicated 52,258 miles but has been rarely used during our vendor's ownership. It's accompanied by a small history file including 16 old MOT Certificates, an original service booklet and a current MOT (no advisories) valid until the 10th of January 2022.