The following BMW has a less BMW look, and more missing the skeletal surprise of the concept car.
30 years ago, I didn't believe that people at that time imagined and expressed the future only so narrowly.
Look closely to understand that underneath these little weirdnesses are conceptual expressions of another category—the collision of ideas, the explosion of ideas, and the practice of the future.
So, while these cars look mediocre, they're really quite engaging.
Even though they're all ugly.
The cars all came from the same company, Technik.
This is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW, founded in 1985 and known as the think tank of BMW.
BMW spoils him – I'm in charge of making money, you're in charge of the imagination.
Technik can also be there, and the starting point of each concept car is mass production, determined to make money for BMW.
Oh no, no wonder it was merged into BMW in 2003 and began the technological development and exploration of mass production vehicles.
Technik still has a lot to contribute, mainly Z and i.
The first concept car, the Z1, debuted at its peak and was successfully mass-produced, and BMW's roaster entered the future generation represented by the "Z".
The concept of the electric vehicle E1 influenced today's i-series, with the i3 being considered the spiritual successor to the E1 and the i8 being directly dominated by Technik.
Also like touch screen keys are also Technik ideas.
Well, let's officially look at the plastic BMW that Technik created in those years.
I use the word plastic to say that these small nostrils and small eyes of the BMW look like fakes.
But unexpectedly, they are really plastic.
In 1991 Technik introduced the E1, code-named Z11, a 3-door, 4-seater urban electric vehicle.
This car has two significances, one is to test the feasibility of pure electric mass production, and the other is to meet the hard requirements of the California market for zero-emission products (the same is true for general EV1).
The Z11 uses a 19.2kWh sodium sulfate battery, 45 hp rear drive output, the battery is installed under the rear seat, charged using a household socket, fast charging 2 hours full.
The car has an endurance of 249 km, thanks to the extruded aluminum body frame and recyclable plastic body panels, which have reduced the weight of the car to a very low level, in exchange for a good endurance.
This is also the most valuable experience that E1 has left for BMW on the road to electric vehicle exploration - it is better to add batteries than to subtract to use batteries most efficiently.
Unfortunately, the only red Z11 was destroyed by fire on a single charge, and the fire even damaged the building.
This fire directly changed the fate of E1, but also changed BMW's future new energy behavior, and also triggered people's thinking about the safety of electric vehicles.
However, it should be known that this Z11 is very popular, whether it is the excellent shape (questionable), or the quiet power transmission, and the clear handling, it has left a good impression on the outside world.
Maybe it was because they wanted to try again, maybe BMW didn't want to make the burned Z11 a historical regret for the E1, so they recreated the E1 two years later.
The second generation of E1, codenamed Z15, manufactured two, one pure electric and one hybrid.
The green pure electric model is replaced by a 19kwh nickel chloride battery, and the battery life is comparable to the original.
The red hybrid model uses the four-cylinder engine of the K1100 motorcycle (remember this engine), with a total of 82 hp output of 5MT.
The body structure is the same as that of the Z11, and the exterior design is slightly different.
After E1, BMW changed its strategy, focusing on the development of hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines, but it does not seem to bear much fruit.
However, the arrival of the i3 in 2013 fulfilled the wish of E1 20 years ago, and today's i plan and MINI E put BMW back on the electric track again.
This is the most characterable person in my opinion Z Concept.
The Z13 was the proposal of Robert Powell, a member of Technik's team, who had always wanted to build a fun car.
It is said that after the failure of E1 in 1993, the electric was gone, but the idea of an urban commuter car BMW still did not give up, and Robert Powell's concept was adopted.
Robert Powell's starting point was "fun", so he suggested a carbon fiber body with an all-aluminum front and rear subframe; BMW's starting point was "economy", allowing only the use of lower-cost all-aluminum bodies, but all-aluminum was also a very good condition in that era.
The rear engine is still the K1100's 1.1L four-cylinder engine, 82 horsepower, matching the CVT from Ford, the whole weight is 830kg, and the dynamic performance is also quite good.
The design of the Z13 is a bit interesting, with four small round headlights separated with an E46/5 compact flavor; the towering windshield extends to the roof to form a half-panoramic sunroof; and the tightly cinched upper body and protruding rear wheel fenders are the original recipe for the Volvo C30.
The most interesting thing is that the Z13 is a three-seat layout, which is the color of the McLaren F1, so he is actually a single car, and the two people sitting behind him are very flavorful.
What a flavor, the flavor of Mona.
However, the Z13 has the luxury of a mini car that is rare in the past, electronic handbrakes, GPS, car phones, and even a fax machine, and the interior materials are also quite exquisite, after all, BMW is produced.
So after the 1993 Geneva Motor Show unveiled the public acceptance is very high, BMW immediately has the confidence of mass production, and let Robert Powell improve the second prototype car - the engine becomes the 1.2L four-cylinder engine on the K1200, the gearbox becomes 5MT - this big brother is determined to have fun...
The variables happened just a few months later, when BMW acquired Rover, owned Mini, and everything was disrupted.
Born Mini Ho Born Z13? Mini is not only a classic, but also ready-made, and BMW has no reason to abandon it.
Z13 is not bad, interesting enough to have character, and being able to mass-produce may also be a good story.
But if you can only choose one or the other, Mini must be culturally correct.
In addition to the production line and brand, Mini's heritage, cultural attributes and influence around the world are also readily available, and BMW has successfully continued these after reinventing MINI in the millennium.
On the other hand, the arrival of Mini has diversified BMW's brand and product line.
Faced with the attempted mass production of E1 and Z13, Technik finally figured it out, understood the value of his existence, and began to release himself.
Prolific, they launched the Z18 and Z21 in 1995.
The Z18 is an open-top off-road that was popular in the United States at the time, and the Wrangler, Chevrolet Tracker, and Amigo were all popular characters.
At first glance, the Z18 is the "stilt version" Z3, but in fact there are many elements.
He blends a variety of styles such as endurance motorcycles, speed boats, and off-road vehicles, and the semi-open wheels are impressive, even with the illusion of amphibious vehicles.
The Z18 has a modular rear that can be switched between 2-seater, 4-seater and pickup models.
The interior is also very interesting, very simple, and the central triptych comes from the motorcycle at first glance. The rubber floor, the plastic seats, the entire interior is waterproof, and the minutes are reminiscent of the rapids of childhood.
It was BMW's first 4WD, four years ahead of the X5, and powered by a 355-horsepower 4.4L V8 engine >5MT.
The Z18 also didn't get mass production, but his concept was transferred by Technik to the C1, a motorcycle with a roof, and mass production was achieved.
If you understand it as BMW's Caterham, there is no particularly weird thing to say.
The Z21 was unveiled at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show, and the philosophy behind one-off is to maximize performance purely.
He also uses the K1100 engine, 100 horsepower rear-drive, self-weight 550kg, this push weight is still quite exciting than imagine.
Finally, the name Just 4/2, which looks sophisticated, is just a harmonic stem — just for two.
The Z22 of 2000 finally gave us a glimpse of what the concept car should look like.
I mean the interior, and the exterior is still very Technik — ordinary, ugly.
Boasting the perfect example of future technology, the Z22 boasts more than 70 innovations and 61 patents and is considered the most advanced mechatronics concept car ever made available to the public.
Z22 is a technology test bench, and many of the technologies he showed have been implemented and applied to the present.
Examples include HUDs, adaptive headlights, digital dashboards, cameras that replace rearview mirrors, fingerprint-activated vehicles, and irregular steering wheels for iDrive and the iX.
The Z22 also showcased steer-by-wire and in-line motion technology, which is a technology from an airplane and a technology that is being researched by manufacturers today towards the era of L5 level autonomous driving. The Z22 was shown 20 years ago, once again embodying Technik's foresight.
Others, the Z22 has the wheelbase of the E38 7 Series, the body length of the E46 3 Series, and the interior space optimization is very good, reaching the level of the 5 Series.
The body is made of CFRP material, which is excellent in strength and lightweight. Using a tower of 2.0L all-aluminum four-cylinder engine, 136 hp output.
Under the scrutiny, these works of Technik when they were independent are still quite interesting, although they want to make money for BMW, but their thinking has always been independent of the BMW system, which has created such a funny work above.
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* Images from the Internet, intrusion and deletion.