Minichamps BMW Z1

Minichamps BMW Z1

The BMW Z1 was built as a design study for the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show, but the crowds loved it so much that BMW decided to take the car into production. As the first drop-top roadster to emerge from Ingolstadt in 30 years, it was loaded with groundbreaking design features, including doors that dropped down into the sills and a sleek aerodynamic body with swappable body panels that allowed for damage repair or color changes at (almost) a moment’s notice. A bit more than 8,000 were built between early 1989 and mid-1991. Minichamps’ latest 1:18 offering of the Z1 is painted a deep metallic “Swimming Pool Blue.” Only one Z1 was painted this color, and it was presented to Dr. Ulrich Bez, the leader of the Z1’s design team at BMW Technik GmbH. This is a sweet little model with the Z1’s signature doors fully scaled and operable. The stance and paint are close to perfect, and the badging, glass, and wheels are dead-on. Open the articulated bonnet and the engine is beautifully detailed with wires, hoses, cables, and a hyper-realistic fuse block. The cockpit is a muted black, but the detailing on the console and central stack is quite nice. Under the short rear deck, the boot is flock carpeted; flipping the car over reveals a textured black undertray covering most of the car’s bottom, with a few “alloy” pieces of the drivetrain and suspension finished in flat aluminum. Altogether, a very nice model. Dr. Bez, your ride is waiting. — Bill Bennett

1:18 | $139.95

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Updated: June 4, 2014 — 11:09 AM
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