BMW Turbo Concept
Taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo concept, the car was based around the M88/1 3.5L inline 6cyl engine mated to a ZF 5 speed transaxle. This engine featured mechanical fuel injection, 24 valves, twin cams and 6 individual throttle bodies. In street tune, the M88/1 produced 273HP and could propel the M1 to over 160MPH. In racing tune, with the addition of twin turbos, the engine was capable of over 800HP.
Production BMW M1
Production BMW M1
The body was designed by Giugiaro and BMW entered into an agreement with Lamborghini to build the car to meet the 400 car minimum homologation rules. Unfortunately, Lamborghini was in very bad financial condition at the time and they were unable to meet their end of the bargain. In 1978, BMW transferred the completion of the project and assembly of the cars to their M Motorsport division with the aid of Baur a German convertible company.
In another unfortunate turn of bad luck, by the time BMW resumed development and production of the car in 1978, the hologation rules for Group 5 racing had changed and BMW had not manufactured enough cars to qualify. So in 1979, BMW created their own racing series the Procar BMW M1 Championship. This series was the brainchild of Jochen Neerpasch, the head of BMW Motorsport, as a way to help BMW produce enough M1s to qualify for racing. It consisted of race tuned M1s and was a established as a support series for Formula One. Procar pitted many F1 drivers of the day against one another in identically prepared cars. The series lasted for only 2 years after which BMW had made enough cars to finally compete in Group 5 racing but by then the car was seriously outdated and outmatched.
BMW Procar racer
In another unfortunate turn of bad luck, by the time BMW resumed development and production of the car in 1978, the hologation rules for Group 5 racing had changed and BMW had not manufactured enough cars to qualify. So in 1979, BMW created their own racing series the Procar BMW M1 Championship. This series was the brainchild of Jochen Neerpasch, the head of BMW Motorsport, as a way to help BMW produce enough M1s to qualify for racing. It consisted of race tuned M1s and was a established as a support series for Formula One. Procar pitted many F1 drivers of the day against one another in identically prepared cars. The series lasted for only 2 years after which BMW had made enough cars to finally compete in Group 5 racing but by then the car was seriously outdated and outmatched.
BMW Procar racer
In all, a total of only 456 M1s were built between 1978 and 1981 making it one of the rarest BMWs ever and the only mid engined BMW to date. With it's stunning design and wonderful driving dynamics, the M1 is considered one of the greatest sports cars of the 1970s and possibly all time.
BMW M1 Homage Concept
BMW M1 Homage Concept
In 2008 BMW teased everyone with the M1 Homage concept car. Built as a celebration of the M1's 30th anniversary it showed what a modern M1 would look like. Designed by Giorgio Giugiaro it drew inspiration from the original M1 as well as the 1972 BMW Turbo concept that the original was modeled after. Sadly, BMW has stated that there is no chance of a production version.
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