BMW presently sells the hybrid i8 to the eco-conscious performance driver. It is mid-engined, has butterfly doors and what have you, and it’s quite striking.
But did you know that it’s not the first mid-engine BMW? No, that title goes to our Rare Ride today — the M1, from all the way back in 1981. Don’t worry, it’s not all that Malaisey.
Now when we say “it’s a BMW,” one immediately looks at the badge and sees the blue and white Roundel. But at its base, this vehicle is not much of a Bimmer.
Back in the middle part of the 1970s, BMW contracted with the well-known mid-engine, sporting automobile maker Lamborghini to design and build a race car for entry in a championship series. Design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro penned the body, which is why it looks fantastic even today.
In order to go racing with the M1, the production of a specific number of street-ready examples was required (a process known as homologation). The original idea was for BMW to enter the World Sportscar Championship in 1979. Here’s where the problems began.
The issue we’re covering in part one of this two-part Rare Rides story is Lamborghini itself. A world financial downturn occurred in 1973, and that put Lamborghini on rather shaky financial ground through the remainder of the decade. Shortly after development started, Lamborghini went bankrupt. The year was 1978, and a total of seven rough prototypes had been completed during Lamborghini’s tenure.
This left BMW in a predicament, but a savior was at hand. BMW signed a new contract for the remainder of M1 development with a group of former Lamborghini engineers.
The engineers formed their own company after departing Lamborghini, calling it Italengineering. This solved the development problem, and eventually BMW began building the M1. The end result was our Rare Ride today.
Finished in a lovely navy blue (and featuring the original luggage!), this 1981 example is from the final year of production. The mid-mounted 3.5-liter inline-six engine has 8,000 miles on the clock, and this pristine beauty has been in the hands of just one owner since brand new.
It’s not available on eBay at the moment, but it was a few days ago (and didn’t sell). The seller was asking $658,000.
Tune in next time for Part II, where we address the other major hurdle BMW faced in getting the M1 on the track.
[Images via eBay]
According to wiki, “The engine has six separate throttle bodies…”
Heh. That made my inner grease monkey cringe.
Six separate carburetors would be even more awesome.
Link em together with Lean Burn, and you’re good to go!
The first few years of the 911 had 6 carburetors. Zenith or Solex. The linkage was definitely Rube Goldberg. If they got out of sync, for any reason including ignorant fiddling, it was very time consuming to get them running smoothly again.
Mechanics were relieved when the triple-choke Solex and Webers were fitted.
Also Honda CBX circa 1978, had 6 cylinder inline motor with 6 carbs. The linkage was much better. A big improvement over the first Honda Fours with 4 throttle cables.
I believe the original M5 had 6 throttle bodies as well.
That’s typical for M cars. The E60 M5 had 10 throttle bodies.
ITBs (individual throttle bodies). Nothing particularly exotic in that.
I’m thinking in terms of wear on the linkages and throttle bushings when the thing is between 100,000-200,000 miles… which of course is not the point of this car.
It’s very typical for sports motorcycles to have a throttle body per cylinder, although usually that means only 4 – not 6. This is a good bit simpler than pre-2000, when most had 4 carburetors.
If I’m not mistaken, the M1’s straight 6 was the impetus for the first M5.
There is an orange one at the BMW museum in Munich, also there is an Andy Warhol painted M1 that rotates through museums. The wedge seems so much simpler than all the cars today that look melted and angry. Get off my lawn!
The sweet tour guide at the BMW museum in Munchen opened all the doors and hatches for me on the M1. Striking in person.
There is also a survivor here in North Texas. Saw it at CnC.
I love cars from the past that look like the future. This is one of them.
We may be living in the golden age of HP, but we are well past peak beauty.
How much does a kidney sell for on the black market these days?
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.
I find it difficult to believe that people find this car (or the i8) “beautiful”.
It does look like “what a supercar looked like in 1980”, yes.
But they were and are all *ugly*, as far as I’m concerned.
(The last Ferrari that wasn’t at least plain? The ’60s era SuperAmerica.
I know I’m an outlier on this, but “fast” and “pretty” are not synonyms.)
Completely off topic comment to get the little vein to start throbbing in Corey’s temple.
You can’t get me today!
“… from all the way back in 1981” Thanks for making me feel a little older.
I’m not sure they even had numbers for long before 1981.
My birth certificate is a tablet with chisel marks.
My favorite version is the Procar race car. Stunning machine.
Fun fact: the tail lights are shared with the E24 6 series.
Keep an eye out for Part II.
My kids’ pediatrician daily drives a 850i. I get to see it everyday on the way to work. Not quite as rare as this one, but still a treat to look at.
Does seeing it daily ever make you think about how much of it that you’ve paid for yourself? Like, maybe one of the wheels?
Oh you bet. My kids were frequent customers back when they were both 3 and younger. They should start issuing Buy 9 get 1 Visit Free punch cards.
My favorite unobtainable car! Car and Driver tested a non-complying example in the early ’80s and just swooned. ( https://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-m1-trilogy-the-history-of-the-m1-feature-the-m1-trilogy-the-roadgoing-m1-road-test-review-car-and-driver-page-2 ).
I met the editor of C and D, and author of the linked article, Csaba Csere, at LaGuardia while waiting for a flight in April ’99 and asked about the M1 test. He reported that the entire staff was just totally impressed with the car.
Any driving impressions? Or is that in a future “Rare Drives”?
Like to hear about the tactile stuff too.
In fact if you (Corey) are ever in Colorado Springs you can start with my old 911.
I think the M1 and the original NSX head a very short list of Supercars with Restraint. I also think if I could pick any supercars to drive once from throughout automotive history, it would be those two (plus of course a McLaren F1 while I’m dreaming).