The BMW Z1 is still a rare sight on our shores, having been eligible for importation for a grand total of three years after floating into the 25-year window. The car itself was never particularly rare back home in Europe, even though it was a bit of a niche model: These can readily be found in a range of conditions and kilometrages in Western Europe on a wide range of budgets.
But the Alpina version of this avant-garde roadster is a much rarer machine, and in a few days what is possibly the sole example of the Alpina Z1 in the U.S. will roll across the block at Bonhams' Scottsdale auction, offered at no reserve.
The original Z1 is an exercise of clever design and packaging: The roadster itself sits on an E30 3-Series chassis and uses a 2.5-liter straight-six engine along with a five-speed manual transmission from an ordinary 325i of the time, producing 168 hp and 164 lb-ft of torque. The body, however, is far from ordinary — it is plastic and is made to be removable by owners who could (if they wanted to) swap out every panel to change the color of the car itself. This feature was not as appealing or as widely used as it was originally envisioned (as you may have guessed), but the Z1 had plenty of other tricks up its sleeve including doors that popped down into the rocker panels instead of opening in the normal fashion.
The roadster was produced for a little over two years, with around 8,000 examples leaving the Munich factory.
Alpina's take on the Z1 did not focus on aerodynamic or stylistic improvements. Instead, the tuning house turned its attention to the engine, squeezing out a little more power to make it a more agile performer. Alpina's version of the M20 engine displaced 2,651ccs, good for 200 hp, and a 0-62 mph sprint time of 7.1 seconds. The top speed, meanwhile, was 142 mph. Alpina also tweaked the suspension (but not in a significant way), while also adding 17-inch alloy wheels of its own design, which make the Alpina versions of the Z1 easy to identify along with the signature stripe graphics.
The car that Bonhams will offer is the 63rd out of 66 Alpina versions built, and it currently shows the equivalent of just over 7,400 miles from new. Presented as a "no-stories" car, this Alpina Z1 was recently shown at the Legends of the Autobahn gathering in Monterey, California, and will be offered with an Alpina Roadstar Edition Book signed by Alpina founder Burkard Bovensiepen.
Bonhams estimates this Z1 to fetch between $140,000 and $180,000 on auction day, which is about three to five times the going rate for a regular Z1. Will U.S. buyers be willing to throw that much money at a tuned Z1, given the thin appreciation (and awareness) of this model in the States? We'll have to see later this month, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it cut loose south of the low estimate.
Visit the auction website to view the full list of lots as well as auction schedule.
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