BMW M1

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BMW

BMW M1

1979 - 1980
Country:
Germany
Engine:
Inline 6
Capacity:
3453 cc
Power:
277bhp
Transmission:
5 spd. man
Top Speed:
162 mph
Number Built:
457
Collectability:
5 star
BMW 3.0 CSL
Another classic racing car made available to the public to satisfy homologation racing rules, only 457 of the glass-fibre bodied M1's were made - all for the local European market.

The Motorsport 1 (M1) remains the only mid-engined beamer to be developed, and that in itself if enough to make the car truly unique.

But more important than any break away from traditional design was the cars fabulous handling and performance.

Using the fabulous "M-Power" in-line 3.5 liter six, the engineers were able to have it develop a staggering 277 bhp - all this mated to a silky smooth 5 speed manual transmission.

From any angle a supercar, it was to reward the lucky owners with an amazingly comfortable ride, and even though the car was really built for the race track, BMW still made the interior appointments everything a purchaser would expect, with inclusions such as leather interior, air-conditioning, electric windows etc.

While BMW were not suitably geared up to produce such a low volume car, production was initially outsourced to Lamborghini - until they hit financial trouble.

Subsequent cars had their tubular space frames manufactured by the Italian firm Marchesi, while other Italian companies provided the glass-fibre body panels.

Assembly was completed at Italdesign, and the nearly finished vehicles finally shipped to coach builder Baur in Germany.

Before any were released to dealers, each was thoroughly tested by BMW Motorsport. But unfortunately for Joe Public, the M1 failed to tame the turbo propelled Porsche 911 and, given that the race track was the sole reason for the cars creation in the first place, development was stopped just shy of 12 months after it had commenced.

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Also see:


BMW Heritage
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