by Mike –
Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and originally planned to be made by Lamborghini for BMW (unfortunately those plans fell through). The BMW M1 was made from 1978 to 1981 and is the first mass-produced mid-engined BMW with only 453 being made.
BMW had plans for this to be a race car competing in Group 4 and 5 and Lamborghini was to help with homologation. BMW missed the window to race this car as planned. Out of the 453 made, 54 were race cars with some created for the BMW M1 Procar Championship.
This BMW M1 is powered by a 266 hp 3.5 liter in-line 6-cylinder engine equiped with Bosch Motronic fuel injection and a 5-speed manual transmission. Zero to 60 MPH is achieved in 5.4 seconds.
The BMW M1 shown here was built for and owned by famed race car driver Niki Lauda and is currently owned by my friend, Phil White.
All BMW M1 photos by Mike Gulett, above at the Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance in July 2017, and the one below is from the Carmel Concours-on-the-Avenue in August 2017.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Phil White in his restored Chevrolet Pickup at the Carmel Concours-on-the-Avenue – August 2017 – photo by Mike Gulett
Wow, an Italian car built by BMW. Where have I heard that before. If one looks at the non-racing version it looks even more like a Lamborghini.
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/bmw/m1/1979/395346
I think it shares a lot of characteristic with a Maserati Bora.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_Bora#/media/File:1973_Maserati_Bora_in_Greenwich.jpg
Thanks for posting this. I had no idea that this cool ride was designed by the Italian god of car design Giorgetto Giugiaro