Conference terri::cars_uk

    My dad recently went to test drive a new 7 series BMW at the local BMW
    dealer, He said there were four Z1's for sale, all with v. low milage,
    ie, a couple of thou', They were all around �40,000!
    
    The cars were all left hand drive.
    Carl.
    

    
    Our local BMW dealer (Barons in Farnborough) had a Z1 in for a while
    recently. I don't know the price, but I do know it would have been
    TOO MUCH!
    
    Mark

	What happened to the MVS then Patrick?. 

	-John

    The MVS is going well, even stronger than before (engine converted
    to 2.8 in June, new suspension settings worked until I find perfection
    ... very close)
    
    If we can find a good deal we're in the market for 2 Z1's. Seems
    that the only place to buy one at a reasonable price is West Germany.
    I'll probably sell the Venturi then.

    Patrick,
    
    Get yourself a copy of Auto Motor & Sport, to get an idea of the German
    market. For the British market, I would recommend the Sunday Times.
    
    Thinking of going back to a 911? Good on ya!
    
    Colin K.

    
    No Colin, read ALL the last notes.
    
    He's thinking of investing in BMW Z1s!
    
    Mark

    Well Mark, if YOU actually read the base note, you'll realise that a
    911 Speedster must obviously be made by BMW, or was it ME who missed
    the point?

    
    Oops! Very true Colin! Still he does seem to be swayed towards the
    Z1 from the tone of the notes.
    
    Mark

    Well, if I could find a 911 speedster at a reasonable price (that
    is a price I could afford) I would buy it and keep it for a while;
    
    This way I would achieve 2 things
    
    - drive a 911 (and an open one)
    - make a lot of money
    
    I still wonder if the Z1 will follow the same curve ($). I have a 
    feeling that the Z1 is less fun to drive.
    
    I was planning to get current copies of Auto Motor und Sport and
    Auto Sport. Thanks for the advice Colin.

    Local paper at the weekend had a couple of brand new Z1's (delivery
    milage) for between 80,000 and 90,000 DM (these were private deals,
    not through dealers). Z1's are available from dealers but they have
    to add the VAT (but you'd probably be able to reclaim that if you
    exported). If you're interested I'll dig up a few more details tonight.
    By the way these were in the Frankfurt area.
       
    Jan

    Handler prices for Z1's vary from 85,000 DM to 89,900 DM (black
    with black leather interior). This includes the 14% VAT. Private
    prices (only one) was 79,900 DM (green) with no VAT. All are with
    delivery milage, these examples were taken from "Inserat" (German
    version of Exchange and Mart) and "Frankfurter Runschau", all numbers
    were Frankfurt or the surroundings. There seem to be a large number
    of this little sports car floating around, I wouldn't be certain
    that it's a sound investment for the future but then we all wish
    we'd kept that xyz don't we...               
                                  
    Jan                           
                                  
                                  

    Many thanks for all this Jan. I wasn't sure about the domestic market
    for Z1's. Outside Germany the Z1's are only available in VERY limited
    quantities. For example the french BMW dealers won't take any orders
    since the 600 units allocated for the next x (months years?) have
    been sold before day 1 of delivery and they can't quote any delivery
    date any more.

    Was at a large BMW dealer over the weekend and saw eight (8) Z1's
    waiting for the dealer inspection after delivery (still had the
    wax on them). Don't know if these were spoken for or not as no salesman
    was around.  Also anyone interested in an M3, there were  10 of
    these in the used car lot, prices ranging from 42,000DM to 95,000DM
    (brand new), as well as a few M3 Cabrios.
    
    Jan

    Some more water....
    
    Infos from ' Autos International' issue#1 Feb 90
    
    French contigent of Z1's :  220 cars for the Year
    Sold 370.000 FF , around DEC 89 we had the possibility to read ads in
    newspapers at 450.000 FF... But it was only ads : I went around the
    same period in an Auction in Lyon. There was 2 Z1's brand new. One were
    sold 360.000 FF , the other went for 380.000 FF..
    
    In Germany, the Z1 was sold DM 83.000 and some were negociated around
    118.000 DM. When the announcement have been made that the Z1 will be
    produced at the rate of 10 to 12 a Day, the average prices falled back
    to 80/82.000 DM.
    
    Morality : It's red, but it's not a Ferrari !
    
    CH-Jacques.
    

    Yep, I've found the same results. I've called a few people who had
    put an ad in the auto magazines. Price in the normal range.
    
    I've also read a number of road tests : every article concludes
    that the car is perfectly built and corners very nicely. But the
    price of this perfection is ... weight and poor performance. In
    addition they seem to produce the Z1 with long gear ratios. A 325
    beats the Z1 in all acceleration tests. That's not what I'm looking
    for (even if the Z1 beats the 325 in corners ...)
    
    I've turned my eyes to the new Elan ....