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BMW M1 really was the Ultimate Driving Machine

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.

2015 BMW M4 Coupe

Launched out of the seat by a huge, unexpected dip in the road, yet still held largely in place by the smooth webbing of my safety belt, I clench my teeth waiting to come back to earth. A tenth of a second later, the M4 Coupe touches down and my body is slammed into the leather seat cushion. All of the air is forced out of my lungs upon landing, but the BMW's chassis, suspension and steering appear unfazed. Pleasantly surprised, I mash the accelerator to the floor in giddy pursuit of the car in front of me - an absolutely identical 2015 BMW M4 coupe.
A cavorting game of cat-and-mouse on a desolate twisty canyon in southern Portugal is an excellent way to explore the real-world driving dynamics and performance of BMW's all-new M4 Coupe. But to truly push it to the limit - without having to worry about oversize depressions in the asphalt - requires a dedicated racetrack. Graciously, my hosts have rented the famed Autódromo Internacional do Algarve racetrack, or Portimão circuit, for an afternoon of automotive debauchery.
It's hard to believe this passes for work.

BMW says SUVs killed the sports car market

In many ways, we're living in a golden age of automotive performance. After all, it's possible to show up at a Dodge dealer, hand over about $60,000 and storm away with a 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat. Or for those who prefer a touch more luxury, the BMW M4, Mercedes-AMG C63 and latest Cadillac ATS-V offer between 425 and 503 horsepower, depending on your pick, with a bit more poshness. However, none of these powerful vehicles fit the classic definition of a two-place, droptop sports car, and according BMW head of sales Ian Robertson, that's because the segment is very much in the doldrums.
According to Robertson, two factors seriously wounded the classic sports car market. First, the global economic crisis of a few years ago put a serious hurt on sales, according to Bloomberg. Further worsening the situation, the boom in popularity of luxury SUVs and crossovers in the past few years hasn't allowed for much recovery. Even car-hungry China hasn't helped much because of the smog in many cities and preference among some of the very rich there to be chauffeured.
Combined, Audi TT, BMW Z4 and Mercedes-Benz SLK sales peaked around 114,000 units a year in 2007, but they are only expected to reach 72,000 annually by the end of the decade. Robertson is pretty pessimistic about the market's comeback too. "Post-2008, it just collapsed. I'm not so sure it'll ever fully recover," he said to Bloomberg.