In the event you’ve been following Motor1 for a very long time, you seemingly keep in mind my long-running Idea We Forgot collection. I’ve determined to deliver it again and intention to enhance it by taking a deeper dive into a few of the most uncommon ideas which have crossed my radar over time. A great start line is that this: the 1993 BMW Z13. There’s extra to this Bavarian metropolis automobile than its quirky look, which alone is sufficient to warrant a more in-depth have a look at the diminutive hatchback.

The Z13 tackled automobile bloat by shrinking the BMW system down to only 135.4 inches (3440 millimeters) in size. For context, the eccentric i3 electrical hatchback was a full 22 inches (560 millimeters) longer. Regardless of its tiny footprint, the idea had sufficient room for 3 folks in a McLaren F1-style structure, with a central driver’s seat and a pair of passenger seats mounted farther again on all sides. This was all attainable in a automobile that was solely 64.5 inches (1640 millimeters) huge.

Intelligent packaging included mounting the engine on the rear, simply forward of the axle. Whereas the thought of a mid-engine hatchback may conjure ideas of efficiency automobiles just like the Renault Clio V6 or the more moderen Toyota GR Yaris M idea, the Z13 was removed from a scorching hatch. It used a naturally aspirated inline-four derived from the BMW K1100 bike.

With simply 82 horsepower and 81 pound-feet (110 Newton-meters) of torque, it didn’t set your pulse racing. The truth that it featured a repeatedly variable transmission (CVT), believed to have been sourced from Ford, did not assist both. Though it wasn’t your typical sporty Bimmer, it did keep true to BMW’s rear-wheel-drive custom.

The Z13 wanted round 10 seconds to succeed in 62 mph (100 km/h) and topped out at 112 mph (180 km/h). However that was completely ample for a automobile designed primarily for metropolis use moderately than chasing Nürburgring lap occasions. The thought wasn’t to create a efficiency automobile, however to supply an answer for individuals who sometimes drive alone and don’t want a 3 Collection, not to mention a fair bigger automobile. Right here’s what prompted BMW to create what might’ve change into an entry-level mannequin had it reached manufacturing:

“To design a compact car appropriate for contemporary wants, with exemplary energetic and passive security, a excessive degree of consolation and comfort, convincing efficiency with acceptable financial system and environmental acceptability, but in addition enjoyable to drive and stylish however restrained in its look.”

To maximise inside area whereas conserving the automobile compact, BMW stretched the wheelbase to 90.5 inches (2300 millimeters), widened the tracks, and shortened the overhangs as a lot as attainable. Weighing just one,829 kilos (830 kilograms), gas financial system will need to have been distinctive. The Z13 was constructed round a computer-optimized aluminum area body and had a drag coefficient of 0.34, a outstanding determine for its time.

It rode on bespoke 16-inch alloys and featured air inlets forward of the rear wheels to chill the engine and brakes. Regardless of its unconventional look, the Z13 remained immediately recognizable as a BMW, with a kidney grille flanked by twin headlights. Designers aimed to provide it a mature look, even when it was thimble-sized.

Whereas the outside borrowed cues from conventional BMW fashions, the inside was nothing wanting revolutionary. Past the central driving place, the cabin featured a number of improvements. The CVT was managed through a rotary swap to the suitable of the steering wheel, whereas a navigation show and built-in telephone had been positioned to the left. It even had a telefax machine onboard, together with a subwoofer mounted between the rear seats.

Warmth-insulating glass prolonged into the roof, making the cabin really feel much more spacious. Rear passengers had particular person armrests and studying lights mounted on the doorways, designed to attenuate disturbance to the driving force. Folding the aspect seats made room for skis as much as 6.5 ft (2 meters) lengthy. With the rear seats upright and no entrance passenger seats, occupants might “stretch their legs out to an extent that can’t even be taken with no consideration in sure giant luxurious automobiles.”

BMW didn’t lower corners on security both. The driving force had an airbag, and the Z13’s body with its giant crossmembers and thick B-pillars supplied stable side-impact safety. With out a front-mounted engine, engineers had extra freedom to maximise the crumple zone. Pc simulations within the early Nineties confirmed the Z13 met “the world’s hardest vehicle security requirements.”

The Z13 was the third car (after the Z1 roadster and E1 electrical hatchback) developed by BMW Technik GmbH, an entirely owned subsidiary based in 1985. Basically a skunkworks division, Technik produced quite a few modern ideas from the late Nineteen Eighties to the early 2000s. It was renamed BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH in 2003 and continues to give attention to analysis and growth to at the present time.

On the time, BMW emphasised the Z13 was “not only a technical guinea-pig for experimental functions, however a imaginative and prescient that might simply be was a actuality.” A second prototype appeared in 1994, this time that includes a five-speed guide gearbox and a bigger 1.2-liter engine sourced from the K1200 bike. Even so, town automobile by no means made it to manufacturing. Why? Later that very same yr, BMW acquired the rights to the Mini model, and the remainder is historical past.

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