The DMC-L1 was Panasonics first adventure into the world of DSLR cameras. I think the reason for not selling more units was the price of the camera coupled with the Leica 14 - 50 f2.8 -f3.5 kit lens.
It was only available as a kit, but even today they achieve respectable prices on the used market.
I can honestly say that this is the camera I use most and take with me when leaving on a trip that will last more than one night. Coupled either with the kit lens or the PL 14-150 f3.5 - f5.6 it produces such great images.
Having got hold of a Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10, the second camera Panasonic brought out with a, what to me, an inferior kit lens, but having the weakest AA filter of them all. I'm going to be putting the above two lenses on it just to see how sharp the images will actually be. Theoretically they should be very very sharp.