Some people still keep the BMW M1 somewhere high in their top 10 cars ever, most of them (let’s admit it) being fanboys. While their reasons for calling that car ‘the only supercar BMW ever made’ might be subjective, we all agree that whenever one of these rides pops out in front of us, we can’t help but stare at it.
It’s not that it’s drop-dead beautiful but rather because it’s unique in BMW’s history in both shape and significance. It was the first car ever built by the Motorsport division from the ground up and it was designed in collaboration with Giugiaro.
That’s why it looks nothing like any other around and that’s why people love it. Other reasons might also include the brilliant M88/1 3.5-liter 6-cylinder inline and the unbelievable tech it had onboard for the 1970s.
Created following a recipe that used to be employed by many manufacturers back then, the M1 was made road-legal only so that it would be homologated for ProCar racing. Therefore, only a handful (456 to be precise) were actually built for road going purposes, the rest of them being involved in races with iconic drivers behind the wheel, like Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti and Nelson Piquet.
The street version though, was capable of a top speed of 160 mph (260 km/h) and it would do 100 km/h (62 mph) thanks to the 277 HP the engine used to make. That was nothing compared to the racing version that have been known to reach 850 HP thanks to turbocharging.
This sort of a car was bound to break a lot of hearts from the get go but one determined man in the US decided he wasn’t going to be one of those people. He wanted one and somehow managed to get it.
Buying it from a private collector in the UK back in 2009, the car had 12,500 miles (20,125 km) on the odo when he got it and it's now pushing 22,000 miles (35,420 km), Mike not being the kind of guy that just keeps this kind of a car hidden away in its garage. He actually love to drive it both on normal roads but also on a proper race track, like the one in Austin, Texas where he's become a sort of familiar face.
Unfortunately, after this initial experiment, BMW didn't follow up on the initial M1 with another supercar. At least not until now but with the company's centenary coming up fast, anything could happen. Who knows, maybe we'll get to see a new model using i technonolgy. Anything is possible.
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