After Lamborghini decided to transform an Aventador into the new Countach, retro designs are back into automotive discussions. Among the many vehicles that deserve a second generation is the M1, which BMW “brought back” more than once. The first time was with the M1 Homage in 2008. Talk about it, and some will still cry that BMW kept it just as a concept.
The German carmaker got back to the theme in June 2019 with the Vision M Next. Unfortunately, the idea to produce a car based on it also died, but the rendering artist Theottle is not willing to let that happen, so he imagined what its production version could look like.
The good thing about Theottle’s work is that you can follow how it developed instead of just checking the result, thanks to his YouTube channel. According to him, what took him more time was “turning the granite-textured surfaces to solid hue.” Checking the video, it seems everything demanded a lot of work.
The Vision M Next was supposed to replace the i8. It would also present a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but the battery pack would be significantly larger. The owner of this new M1 would be able to drive 100 kilometers (62 miles) only with the charge of the batteries. With the help of a four-cylinder turbocharged engine with undisclosed size (we bet on a 2-liter, but…), it could go from 0 to 100 km (62 mph) in 3 seconds and a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). Both powertrains would give it 441 kW (591 hp).
Although BMW would have claimed that the international health crisis was responsible for the death of this other M1 project, we would not be so sure. The i8 did not sell that well, despite being an amazing-looking machine. Would it make sense to create a replacement for a vehicle that may not make a profit in times of EV transition? Shouldn’t the new M1 be totally electric and present incredible numbers like those the Tesla Model S Plaid presents?
Perhaps BMW is waiting for the solid-state batteries from Solid Power to be ready to think about a groundbreaking M1 successor. Whether you like the production version created by Theottle or not, the third attempt to bring back the M1 may be the only one to really happen.
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