When you’re a BMW fanatic, you understand the attention-grabbing story behind the elusive Goldfisch. It was a 7 Collection prototype offered internally again in July 1988 with a mighty V16 engine. Nevertheless, the mission wasn’t authorised for manufacturing. To our shock, the German luxurious model didn’t abandon the thought of cramming sixteen cylinders underneath the hood of its flagship automobile. It seems there was one other automobile, constructed two years later.

Making its public debut this week on the Techno-Classica Essen, this 1990 7 Collection prototype appears to be in a timeline someplace between an E32 and an E38. The latter entered improvement in early 1988 however didn’t go into manufacturing till February 1994. Whereas the earlier V16 Goldfish had fiberglass ducts on the rear fenders for the radiators mounted on the again, this packaging concern was seemingly solved with the following prototype. It has a cleaner profile, with out the bulges above the rear wheel arches.

The V16 engine used within the newer automobile was a 6646 cc unit that made 348 horsepower at 5,000 rpm. Output was channeled to the street through a five-speed automated transmission in a 7 Collection that was in a position to attain 155 mph (250 km/h). It’s value nothing the earlier Goldfish based mostly on the E32 had a barely bigger 6651cc engine with 400 hp on faucet. As well as, the older prototype dubbed 767iL (aka “The Secret Seven”) got here with a six-speed handbook gearbox as an alternative.

These outputs may not appear a lot by 2024 requirements contemplating the M340i packs 382 hp from simply six cylinders. Nevertheless, throughout the E32 period, the 7 Collection 750i with the V12 engine had solely 296 hp, so 400 hp would’ve been an enormous soar in energy. Let’s take note these large-displacement engines had been naturally aspirated versus present turbocharged models.

Manufacturing automobiles with V16 engines have been few and much between, with the most well-liked being the Cizeta-Moroder V16T from the early Nineteen Nineties. Later this yr, Bugatti will unveil a brand new hypercar outfitted with a brand-new V16 that may change the venerable W16 utilized by the Chiron and Veyron. [Source: BMW Group Classic / Instagram, BMW Group Classic / Facebook]