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BMW 7 Series 767iL «Goldfish». 16 cylinders, and without trunk

PHOTOS BMW SERIE7 767iL «GOLDFISH»: BMW GROUP CLASSIC

25 years ago there was a small fish tank in the garage. In it we had two fish. One of them was a Carassius Auratus, which said so looks like some kind of exotic animal. Nothing is further from reality. In truth it is known as "Goldfish" o "goldfish"; the most common critter in any fish tank run by a kid. What there was not was the BMW prototype with his same name. And that they shared the same trait: their enormous appetite.

In the case of the fish, the appetite was for food. He swallowed it irrationally. If you added more than necessary, instead of leaving it floating, it would eat it mechanically. So one day he died because his stomach burst. With the BMW 7 Series 767 iL"Goldfish" the problem was similar. And it is that its 16 cylinders demand an average of 17 liters in the city, 12 to 120 km / h and almost 20 if you happily carry it on an Autobahn, terrain for which it was designed.

With these data, the Munich managers decided to kill the project causing it to never reach series. And it's a shame, because the truth is that the BMW 7 Series 767 iL "Goldfish" it's crazy wonderful. Madness due to all the modifications required by its four extra cylinders compared to the factory Series7. But wonderful because this project belongs to a boom time in which even prototypes like this one had signs of becoming a reality.

BMW 7 SERIES 767iL “GOLDFISH”. 16 CYLINDERS FOR A RISKY PROJECT

In 1987, BMW engineers presented something very special: the M70 engine. The first V12 in the brand's history, and neither more nor less than the base for the S70 that years then he would drive the McLaren F1. An exceptional 6 liter engine made of aluminum, from which 6 to 295CV were extracted depending on the version. With these credentials it is logical that the M573 was the heart of the top-of-the-range BMW saloon at the time: the second-generation 70 Series, known as the E7.

The person responsible for the model was Hanns-Peter Weisbarth, who welcomed the launch of an even more enhanced version of the 7 Series. That is why he started conversations with Karlhienz Lange, one of the engineers responsible for engine development. And boy, that's where the idea came from adding two cylinders to each of the M70's two benches to create an absolutely unexpected version of the 7 Series. Yes indeed, How to convince managers of its commercial viability? Well, very simple: it would be presented as a model to travel on the Autobahn with a wide cruising speed.

BMW 7 Series 767iL V16

And be careful, because that commercial point of view seriously conditioned the tuning of the BMW 7 Series 767iL. At the end of the day it was not about using all that power to make the 7 Series a sports car in the style of the Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, but rather to ride comfortably with a civilized automatic change of five relations. Thus, the engineers began to work on the prototype respecting these coordinates. But would the huge V16 respect the limitations of the 7 Series?

DIMENSIONS CONDITION A HETERODOX DESIGN

With almost 30 centimeters more than the factory V12, the V16 designed for the BMW 7 Series 767iL "Goldfish" it barely fit in its hole. In fact, to fit it there was no choice but to remove the radiator from the front position to bring it to the rear. Beyond the problems posed by such an atypical arrangement, the truth is that putting a good part of the cooling system there ate the whole trunk. A terminal problem if we talk about a saloon and not a competition sports car.

bmw 7 series 16 cylinder

To channel the air to that point, the body of the BMW 7 Series 767iL included two curious air intakes that are not common in vehicles of this type. Some shots that, precisely because of their gutsy appearance, made the car receive its aquatic nickname. However, beyond these first problems the benefits were impressive: 408CV compared to the 300 of the 750i. Of course, as impressive as it was difficult to find a solution to the trunk problem. And that's for not remembering the consumptions that we mentioned at the beginning.

Problems that even an electronic system capable of handling the V16 as if they were two inline eight engines could solve. So things, in 1988 BMW decided to shelve the 7iL 767 Series project "Goldfish". And it is that, in this life, survival does not only consist in knowing how to find a source of energy, but also in using it rationally. And that goes for both fish and high-end saloons.

What do you think?

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Written by Miguel Sánchez

Through the news from La Escudería, we will travel the winding roads of Maranello listening to the roar of the Italian V12; We will travel Route66 in search of the power of the great American engines; we will get lost in the narrow English lanes tracking the elegance of their sports cars; We will speed up the braking in the curves of the Monte Carlo Rally and we will even get dusty in a garage while rescuing lost jewels.

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