derBayerische January/February 2023 - 21

■ (Top) A Z8 in motion is a beautiful thing. (Above) Driving with the doors down makes for a very open cockpit.
Lothar said " and don't take the cars
onto the track at Summit Point. " And
he looked at me and said " especially
you " (since he knows I'm an HPDE
addict). So, if you're lucky enough to
have Lothar offer to let you drive one
of his cars, don't bend it, bring it back
with a full tank of gas, and bring it
back cleaner than you found it. And
enjoy the experience.
Upon our return, Lothar invited
us to sit on his patio, have a beer, and
listen to a few more stories. " Life has
been good to me " , he said, " and if it
ends tomorrow, it'll be OK. " Then he
concluded with " When you come
back for your next visit, you can drive
the 850ci. "
Mike's Reflections
I'm not sure what's better - being able
to borrow a pair of Lothar Schuettler's
January I February
cars for a weekend or having the
opportunity to listen to him tell
stories of his automotive and life
experiences first hand. Both are truly
memorable and enjoyable events.
When Lothar generously offered Jack
and me a weekend with his Zs, how
could we refuse? Thankfully, on a
lovely weekend in July, our schedules
and " convertible weather "
aligned for us to experience Lothar's
1990 Z1 and 2002 Z8.
When we arrived to pick up our
automotive dates for the weekend,
some of Lothar's collection had to be
shuffled around to get the Zs out of
his garage. Seeing and hearing the
2002 Bauer, the 850ci (with rare,
manual transmission), and the E9
3.0csi come to life was something
special. After the cars were extricated,
Lothar gave us a history of the Zs
and how he came to own these
particular cars.
Lothar saw his first Z1 in 1987
when it was unveiled at the Auto
Show in Germany. He recalled the
color combination was a green exterior
over a cream interior and that one
day he would like to own a Z1 just like
this. This came to fruition about five
years ago when he imported a nice
example from Italy.
As Lothar explained, the body
panels of the Z1 are very unique.
They are all made of plastic (Xenoy
injection-cast thermoplastic to be
exact) that was developed by General
Electric. They are completely removable
to expose the car's structure
underneath. The doors retract
vertically and are to be down when
driving. Due to the unique panels and
assembly methods of the Z1, these
were a low-volume production car
(8,000 examples) and as such they
cost as much as a 7 Series at the time.
Another fun fact about the Z1 is
that one of the design requirements
was " no spoilers " . The rear fascia
and muffler act as a diffuser and
channel air between the rear bumper
and the body of the car to reduce lift.
This gives the rear of the car a tidy
appearance, while still delivering
functional, effective aero.
Lothar found the Z8 in
California. He bought a one-way
ticket to look at it and ultimately
purchased it. When I asked if he had
it shipped back, Lothar exclaimed
" absolutely not! " We came to find out
that Lothar has driven this Z8 coastto-coast
multiple times. He's also
taken it on a tour from Washington
State up to Alaska. Like many of
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derBayerische January/February 2023

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