The Homologators – BMW M1

This will come as no surprise to regular readers of the mag here at Car & Classic but one of my favourite toys as a wee lad was a car. I know, shocker. Among the hundreds of Matchbox, Micro Machines, Scalextric, Hot Wheels and Dinkys all living side by side in the huge Ottoman-esque toy box my dad had built for me to house said collection there was a certain model that stood out above all. For a start it was physically larger than most of those listed above and it had a striking and enigmatic (at least to a seven-year-old me at the time) red and white livery. But most of all it just looked cool. The paint job was BASF and the car was the BMW M1, a now iconic racer and the grandfather of BMW’s M lineage that remains deeply ingrained in my consciousness and still gives me the fizz today.

M badges on BMWs are a regular sight nowadays (don’t get me started on M badges on non-M cars…) and it’s now common practice for the latest Bavarian model to get a souped-up version, but back in the mid ’70s the closest we got to any kind of performance Beemer was the six-cylinder 3.0 CSL. In 1978, however, and unbeknownst to anyone, BMW and the entire automotive world was about to get a serious shake up with the introduction of a legendary street legal race car that would cement the reputation of BMW’s now iconic M division.

Rewind to 1972 and BMW Motorsport GmbH had just been established by former German racing driver Jochen Neerpasch in order to develop and promote BMW’s racing endeavours. Finding early success with cars like the aforementioned 3.0 CSL in the European Touring Car Championship, Jochen and his team would begin work on a bespoke sports car to take on the likes of Porsche in Group 5 competition, but they needed help and so Lamborghini was brought in to lend a hand, as well as a welcome injection of cash.

Based upon Paul Bracq’s concept study of a turbocharged BMW, the M1 was designed by Giorgio Giugiaro and you can see the influence that other cars from the master of style at the time had on the car. You just have to look at models like the De Tomaso Mangusta and Maserati Merak to understand what we’re talking about. In layman’s terms the car was low and pointy, which when combined with ideal weight distribution due to its mid-engine layout meant the car handled like an absolute dream. Perfect for the track then and so much more than just a Lambo with a BMW drivetrain, as some would claim.

It’s all well and good having impeccable control but if the car is underpowered you’re still not going to win any races and so with that in mind, Neerspach dropped in the newly developed 3.5-litre, six-cylinder M88 lump that would later power BMW’s premiere super saloon: the M5. Based on the M49 engine from the BMW 3.0 CSi competition car, the M88 is a dual overhead cam unit pushing out 274bhp which was enough to see the M1 hit 60mph in around 5.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 165mph making it Germany’s fastest sports car at the time, but the project wasn’t without its hiccups.

Believe it or not, partners Lamborghini were in a spot of bother in the mid ’70s, financially speaking, and so shortly after creating the tubular space-frame chassis care of Gianpaolo Dallara, the Italians bowed out leaving BMW to soldier on alone. Work was subsequently farmed out to other firms, however, with Giugiaro’s fibreglass body being built by Trasformazioni Italiana Resine, the chassis being assembled by Marchesi and the two being mated together by Ital Engineering who would also sort the interior. The cars were then sent to Baur for the BMW powerplant and associated hardware with the final spit and polish being applied by BMW Motorsport.

In the end only 453 production cars and a mere 399 road going versions were built making the M1 not only one of BMW’s rarest models, but also one of its most important with a lasting legacy, the influence of which can still be felt today. But it was on the race track that the M1 belonged and in 1979 it made its competition Group 4 homologated debut in the newly devised Procar series.

The brainchild of the M1’s creator Jochen Neerpasch, the Procar series was a one-make championship dedicated to the newly developed car, albeit using examples modified for purpose. Running for just two years in ’79 and ’80, the “Procar BMW M1 Championship” was a spectacular racing series that acted as an amuse-bouche for Formula One, featuring many an F1 legend behind the wheel on actual F1 circuits. The series saw the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost, among others, going head to head with privateers in identically specced M1s and it was a huge hit with the public.

Although ostensibly an M1 at first glance, the Procar versions were a lot beefier. Featuring a huge rear wing, meaty flared arches and a modified front splitter the track cars had definitely been chucking back some protein shakes and that increase in muscle mass also translated to performance with tuned versions of the M88 flat-six developing 460bhp. The M1 would go on to be developed for participation in Group 5 racing, as initially intended, with BMW strapping a turbo to the engine which boosted power of the now shortened stroke 3.2-litre to 900bhp!

Despite the Procar series officially only running for two years, the early ’80s saw various M1 racing cars continue to compete. From Le Mans to the American IMSA GTO Championship this iconic car would go on to make regular appearances at international competitions well into the 1980s, testament to its efficacy and popularity as a track weapon.

The changing tide of the great automotive ocean, however, would unfortunately put an end to the M1 in 1980 as the demand for high performance, exotic sports cars was waning. The family saloon was BMWs bread and butter. It was a range that had pulled the German firm from the brink of bankruptcy only a couple of decades earlier and so it decided to concentrate its efforts here instead. But, as we touched upon earlier, the heart and soul of the M1 would reappear in one of those very saloons with the release of the E28 M5 four years later.

The M1 was immortalised as an art car by Andy Warhol

It’s argued by many a hedonist that it’s preferable to burn out than to fade away but in our eyes the BMW M1 managed to sidestep both of these outcomes. Not only was it an exceptionally good car in period, both on the road and at the track, but its legacy lives on in the cars it inspired and as an especially rare and sought after collector’s piece. Sadly I no longer own that BASF-liveried Procar replica but if it wasn’t for Neerspach and the BMW M1 the automotive landscape, not to mention my childhood toy box, would be far worse off.

At the time of writing we have both a road-going M1 and a genuine UK-based Procar racer available to purchase on site, so if these words have inspired you to acquire one of BMW’s finest then you’re definitely in the right place! Personally we’d opt for the Procar. It may not be in BASF colours but it does come complete with an in-period “Coors” paint job and is fresh from a comprehensive two year restoration. If you prefer a more “sedate” version though, then this factory orange M1 with less than 7,000 miles on the clock could be just the ticket.