[Law]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Watch as Winding Road Magazine takes a pristine 1981 BMW M1 for a test drive on the street.
Footage of this type is extremely hard to come by considering only 453 were produced (of which 399 were road-going versions).

The M1 supercar featured in the video is available for sale for an asking price of $525,500 on classicmotorcars.com
Seller description below includes a brief history of the BMW M1, as well as the history of ownership of this particular unit (WBS59910004301322):

One of 399, Rare Stygian Blue, Exceptionally Well Serviced

The BMW M1's existence originates from the need for a production based car for a proposed Group 5 'Silhouette Formula' to compete in the World Sports Car Championship. The mid-engined concept car was designed in-house by Frenchman Paul Bracq. Ex-racing driver Jochen Neerpasch was responsible for initiating this ambitious project which was intended to take on rivals Porsche and hopefully yield a victory at Le Mans.

Internally dubbed the E26, the M1's development was a cooperative effort with top Italian specialists. Lamborghini was initially contracted to build the car but Giorgetto Giugiaro's Ital Design ultimately took over the project. The coach assembly was performed at Ital Design featuring a fiberglass body built by composite specialist T. I. R. on a multi tubular space frame chassis supplied by chassis specialist Marchesi & C.

Assembled bodies were shipped to BMW's German partner Baur for the mechanical assembly, the last stop then being BMW Motorsports for final preparation and distribution. The twin-overhead-cam, four-valves-per-cylinder 3.5-liter six was all BMW with tweaks by the Motorsports division. A five-speed ZF transaxle was used to transmit power to the ground. Lamborghini's Gian Paolo Dallara was responsible for developing the suspension, which followed racing practice by using unequal-length wishbones at front and rear. The M1's wedge-shaped coachwork proved highly efficient aerodynamically, needing very little in the way of additional spoilers and wings, even in race configuration. The M1's interior was exceptionally well equipped for a sports car. It featured Recaro seats in leather with fabric inserts, air conditioning, electric windows, remotely operated door mirrors and heated rear screen.

First shown at the Paris Motor Show in 1978, the road-going version came with 277bhp and a top speed of 160mph. The abandonment of the Group 5 Silhouette Formula robbed the car of its raison d'être, but production nonetheless continued. An M1-only Procar Series was run at Grand Prix races in 1980 and '81 provided BMW Motorsport with a valuable showcase by way of consolation. Some 453 M1s were built thereby fulfilling racing homologation requirement that 400 be produced. Production ceased at 399 road cars and 54 Procars.

THIS M1:

Imported into California when new, this M1 spent its life in Canada before recently returning to the U.S. This M1 has an exceptionally documented service history and benefits from a significant mechanical refurbishment. This M1 was cared for at a very high level and one drive will convince you of that. Not a squeak or rattle on bumpy roads, this M1 feels new. The car is accompanied by a thick stack of service and repair receipts totaling nearly $150,000 throughout its lifetime, its service manual, microfiche, owner's manual, original tool kit, restorer's guide, spare wheel, jack, safety kit and a Certification from BMW Germany.

The odometer reads 048,067 km (29k miles). Receipts show a costly engine rebuild at 70k km (42k miles). We do not have an explanation for the odometer reading. There are no service receipts to verify mileage progression from the 2nd to last longtime owner who owned the car from 1990 to 2008 (only parts receipts from 1990 and 1991). Given the condition, we are assuming he didn't drive it much. Regardless, we feel the mileage is somewhat irrelevant on this M1 given the level of attention it received, documented by a hundred or more service and repair receipts. We have had this M1 gone through top to bottom by a master BMW mechanic and there are no issues. We welcome Pre Purchase Inspections. This is an extremely solid, well sorted M1 in the best color.

This special M1 would make a wonderful addition to any collection.

[MmmmmM2]

Man that sounds good!

[ShakyDog]

Why oh why do people put cameras on their head. It justs makes me want to puke.

Steve

[yco]

i never get the reason of 2 BMW logos on the back of M1.. looks silly actually..

[No Boost]

Where's the damn iDrive? Must not be an actual M car...

[Korvo]

Yeah, definitely not a real M car. Only two pipes coming out dat ass.

[535i MSport]

Originally Posted by ShakyDog

Why oh why do people put cameras on their head. It justs makes me want to puke.

Steve

Stupid as!

[///M TOWN]

Lovely M1 ‼️

Lovely ❗️

[SFBavarianArea]

Originally Posted by yco

i never get the reason of 2 BMW logos on the back of M1.. looks silly actually..

It was allegedly to make sure people knew it was a BMW passing them by and not some similarly shaped manufacturers sports car. Allegedly.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by SFBavarianArea

It was allegedly to make sure people knew it was a BMW passing them by and not some similarly shaped manufacturers sports car. Allegedly.

That's exactly why BMW put Roundels on the side of the X2.

Otherwise nobody would really have a clue.

[kdavid257]

Looks amazing

[JMon]

Originally Posted by yco

i never get the reason of 2 BMW logos on the back of M1.. looks silly actually..

Maybe it really wants to be an M2?

[nick3753]

Originally Posted by pdegene

Yeah, definitely not a real M car. Only two pipes coming out dat ass.

And no M mirrors.

[mu2002cs]

Look at what those 2 exhaust pipes are connected tp[IMG][/IMG]

[dezzracer]

Wow! That car is jus fantisio. I would kill to drive it. Would have to kill to afford too but that's another story.

[j1980mac]

I never got the point of an M1.

[overcoil]

I'm thinking this M1 is the top exotic road car from that era.

Porsche Turbo, even though no coolant corrosion to deal with handled deadly. 928 engine I think was a complex mess.

Ferrari 512bb stuck an engine on top of a gearbox and maybe surpasses the M1 but that might be debatable.

Ferrari 308 was probably built poorly as were probably all the Lamborghini's.

Probably the only other car to match the M1 for collectability was the Mercedes 600 W100.

Lotus, Aston Martin Rolls & Bentley all were at a low point in quality.

[Law]

Originally Posted by j1980mac

I never got the point of an M1.

The thing about the BMW M1 was that it was one of those failures that ends up becoming a pivotal and defining moment in the timeline of BMW M.
In that sense, it's probably one of the most successful failures.

BMW's original goal with the M1 was to develop & enter a formidable competitor from the ground up for Group 4 and Group 5 homologation.
Needless to say, the M1 never got to race in any competitive series save for BMW's own ProCar Series, which was really BMW's way of making lemonade out of lemons.

At the end of all that, BMW M was left with an entire catalog of parts.
The M88/1 engine in the M1 was ultimately descended from the M49 of the E9 race cars.
The M1 was the first to bear the now famed [and overused] ///M badge.

So what does BMW do with all the leftover pieces? They went back to doing what they did best since the launch of the Neue Klasse, building production passenger cars that were sporty and fun to drive.

Except this time, equipped with the prowess, tooling, drawings, and perhaps some surplus parts/ideas from the Motorsport division, BMW would create an entirely new segment in the automotive world and establish itself as the undisputed leader of sport sedans.



The M88 engine, which itself would later be further developed and become the S38 family of engines, would continue to power entire generations of BMW M cars, directly (E24 M, E28 M, E34 M) and indirectly (E30 M S14 cyl head) well into the 1990s.
And that humble little ///M badge, would go on to achieve universal recognition.

So despite the fact that the M1 completely failed to accomplish its goal, its legacy and the bloodline that descended from it is legendary to say the least.



James May explained it quite well during one of the older Top Gear episodes.

[Big boi m5]

Originally Posted by j1980mac

I never got the point of an M1.

Branding fam. They wanted everyone to want an M car

[Grumpy Old Man]

The helmet cam is kind of like POV porn.

[amw896]

awesome! thx for sharing

[Osirisman]

That noise though!!
They don't make them like that anymore