BMW M1

BMW M1

Manufacturer	BMW
Production	1978–1981
Class	Sports car
Body style(s)	2-door coupé
Layout	Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine(s)	3453 cc I6 M88/1, 204 kW/274 horsepower
Designer	Giorgetto Giugiaro

The BMW M1 is a sports car that was produced by German automaker BMW from 1978 to 1981.

In the late 1970s, Italian manufacturer Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to build a production racing car in sufficient quantity for homologation.The result was sold to the public, from 1978 to 1981, as the BMW M1. It was the only mid-engined BMW to be mass produced. It employed a twin-cam M88/1 3.5 L 6-cylinder gasoline engine with Kugelfischer injection. A version of this motor was later used in the South African version of the BMW 745i, of which 209 examples were built between 1984 and 1986, as well as the E24 BMW M6/M635CSi and E28 BMW M5. The engine had six separate throttle butterflies, four valves per cylinder and produced 277 PS (273 hp/204 kW) in the street version, giving a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph). Turbocharged racing versions were capable of producing around 850 hp (634 kW).

Nelson Piquet with BMW M1 in 1980 at the Nürburgring

The M1 coupe was hand-built between 1978 and 1981 under the Motorsport division of BMW as a homologation special for sports car racing. The body was designed by Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo show car. Originally, BMW commissioned Lamborghini to work out the details of the car's chassis, assemble prototypes and manufacture the vehicles, but Lamborghini's financial position meant that BMW reassumed control over the project in April 1978, after seven prototypes were built. Only 456 production M1s were built, making it one of BMW's rarest models. The spirit of the M1 lived on in the first-generation M5, as both models shared the same (though slightly modified) engines.

The M1 had various successes in motorsports, including winning the Group B championship in 1984. In 2004, Sports Car International named the car number ten on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s.

Procar

In 1979 the head BMW Motorsport, Jochen Neerpasch, devised a one-make championship using racing modified M1s. The series was created to aid BMW in building enough M1s to enter the Group 4 classification in the World Championship for Makes. The new series, known as the Procar BMW M1 Championship, served as a support series for Formula One, and included many current Formula One drivers in identical cars.

The series ran for two years, with Niki Lauda winning the 1979 season, and Nelson Piquet the 1980 season. After BMW met the standards for Group 4, the Procars were used by various teams in the World Championship as well as other national series.

2008 Homage Concept

In April 2008, BMW unveiled the M1 Homage Concept to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the M1. The concept vehicle uses a mid-engine layout and borrows styling cues from both the original M1 and the Turbo show car.

The BMW Hommage concept was released at the event Concorso d’Eleganza Villa 2008. The design was created by Giorgio Giugiaro who got his idea from the BMW Turbo concept which was designed by Paul Bracq. The BMW Turbo boasted many technical and advance innovations from BMW. The front of the car differs the most than the other parts of the car. The front sports double head lights and not the pop up light that are on the original M1, but the usual trademark of the kidney grills made it onto the design of the car. The Hommage still has the double badge in the back of the car as the original M1. There are no photos of the interior of the car or the car in action. The specifications of the car have not been released to the public. BMW has not confirmed if it will be released.