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BMW M1 really was the Ultimate Driving Machine

Thu, 29 May 2014


Life giving you lemons? Make lemonade. That's the spirit in Munich that lead to BMW producing the only mid-engined sports car in its 98-year history. The project resulted from a collaboration with Lamborghini (now owned, incidentally, by arch-rival Audi) to meet Group 4 homologation requirements. Lamborghini withdrew, the FIA changed its rules, but BMW built it anyway.

Arguably one of Giorgetto Giugiaro's finest designs, the M1 packed a 3.5-liter inline-six, driving 273 horsepower to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual. The Procar racing version turbocharged that output up to 850 hp and attracted the top drivers in a one-make F1 support race series.


Over the course of three years, the Bavarian automaker only built 456 examples of the M1, and for BMW enthusiasts, there's no vehicle more coveted. But don't take our word for it – let Petrolicious tell one noteworthy owner's tale in the video below.



By Noah Joseph


See also: Ken Block and friends race light in silly-beautiful Castrol commercial, Thermal imagery of BMW M4 DTM pit stop is red hot, 2014 BMW X5 recalled over faulty child-safety locks.