BMW M1 Series: The Blot on History
BMW, in the 1970's wanted to create a super car that would be on a parallel with Ferrari and Porsche. To do this they needed to design and construct a vehicle which would fit in the Group 5 race series.
The regulatory standards told BMW that they would have to make 400 of their BMW supercar to be road worthy. This supercar was named the BMW M1. Unfortunately, the M1 turned into a historical story of how not to build a supercar due to the trouble the company had in trying to make it road worthy.
BMW approached Lamborghini to help in the design of the M1. They asked the company to help build the racer. The product of this union was a lustrous, low riding, mid engine vehicle. The bodywork was done by Ital Design. The engine was a 3.5 litre creation with turbocharger allowing for 850 horse power. The engine fit the Group 5 racing specifications.
Unfortunately Lamborghini was in dire financial circumstances at the time, which meant that the project suffered frequent delays and in the end the whole project had to be moved to the BMW motorsport department in Baur, Germany. However, by the time the M1 was ready to be launched in 1978, two years after its initial conception, Group 5 racing rules had changed meaning that the M1 was no longer practical.
All of the work that was required for the M1 was not wasted because BMW decided to form a race series in which the M1 super car could race. They called it the Procar BMW M1 Championship. It was a great idea since it was a support race for the Formula 1 Championships of the World race. The F1 stars like Ayrton Senna, Nikki Lauda, and Nelson Piquet were pitted against each other in the same vehicle.
Whilst the race series was a success the road car BMW M1 never really took off, even though in standard trim it produced 277 bhp, could reach sixty in 5.6 seconds and top out at 162 mph. Eventually just 456 models were built making it one of BMW's rarest models and one that is highly sought after by enthusiastic collectors.
As a road car the BMW M1 was superb, featuring genuine supercar performance wrapped up with BMW's legendary build quality, and considerably lower running costs than other supercars of the era. Externally the M1 was striking with its twin kidney shaped front grill, pop up BMW headlight bulbs and the heavy black slats over the rear windscreen.
Whilst commercially the BMW M1 was never really a success its engine was subsequently used in the first BMW M5, and its design inspired BMW's recent M1 Homage concept car. - 21396
The regulatory standards told BMW that they would have to make 400 of their BMW supercar to be road worthy. This supercar was named the BMW M1. Unfortunately, the M1 turned into a historical story of how not to build a supercar due to the trouble the company had in trying to make it road worthy.
BMW approached Lamborghini to help in the design of the M1. They asked the company to help build the racer. The product of this union was a lustrous, low riding, mid engine vehicle. The bodywork was done by Ital Design. The engine was a 3.5 litre creation with turbocharger allowing for 850 horse power. The engine fit the Group 5 racing specifications.
Unfortunately Lamborghini was in dire financial circumstances at the time, which meant that the project suffered frequent delays and in the end the whole project had to be moved to the BMW motorsport department in Baur, Germany. However, by the time the M1 was ready to be launched in 1978, two years after its initial conception, Group 5 racing rules had changed meaning that the M1 was no longer practical.
All of the work that was required for the M1 was not wasted because BMW decided to form a race series in which the M1 super car could race. They called it the Procar BMW M1 Championship. It was a great idea since it was a support race for the Formula 1 Championships of the World race. The F1 stars like Ayrton Senna, Nikki Lauda, and Nelson Piquet were pitted against each other in the same vehicle.
Whilst the race series was a success the road car BMW M1 never really took off, even though in standard trim it produced 277 bhp, could reach sixty in 5.6 seconds and top out at 162 mph. Eventually just 456 models were built making it one of BMW's rarest models and one that is highly sought after by enthusiastic collectors.
As a road car the BMW M1 was superb, featuring genuine supercar performance wrapped up with BMW's legendary build quality, and considerably lower running costs than other supercars of the era. Externally the M1 was striking with its twin kidney shaped front grill, pop up BMW headlight bulbs and the heavy black slats over the rear windscreen.
Whilst commercially the BMW M1 was never really a success its engine was subsequently used in the first BMW M5, and its design inspired BMW's recent M1 Homage concept car. - 21396
About the Author:
BMW has is renowned for the handling and performance of its road cars and the latest BMW M3 can trace its heritage back to the BMW M1. For drivers looking for a more hard core driving experience there is always the Caterham 7, which costs a fraction of the M3 but is still a real drivers car.
posted by X - Men @ 3:30 AM
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