8. BMW Z1
Before roadsters like the Z3, Z4 and cool, limited production Z8, BMW introduced a strange-looking but interesting Z1. The car was advanced for the times and in 1989 there was nothing similar on the market. The Z1 was a sleek roadster with uncharacteristic styling, plastic body panels and unusual sliding doors, which disappeared in its rocker panels when open. Technically, you could drive the BMW Z1 with the doors down.
BMW built the Z1 on special chassis featuring a new rear suspension setup. The power came from a well-known 2.5-liter six-cylinder engine with 168 HP which produced decent performance. The other interesting feature were the plastic body panels bolted onto the chassis. Z1 owners could buy different color panels and attach them to the car at will. Owners could change the paint of the car just by adding different colored doors and fenders, as well as a trunk or hood.
In production until 1991, BMW made 8000 of Z1 roadsters. The factory never tried to homologate the Z1 for U.S., market possibly because of its unusual doors. They realized the NHTSA will never approve this feature for safety reasons.