BMW M1 - Thirty Years Of M

Inside, none of the amenities of a BMW road car were to be found. Bare tubes and sheetmetal with lightening holes were the order of the day, with a race seat, steering wheel and dash just large enough to hold the necessary instrumentation.

With 620 lb less to haul around, acceleration was phenomenal and 30 mph was added to the top speed, despite the huge increase in drag. In fact, a comparison of power and weights suggests the Group 4 M1s should be faster than the mighty Ford GT-40, making the similarly rare race-spec BMW a possible performance bargain for the exotic collector.

While ProCar racing was dramatic, BMW saw fit to focus its international competition efforts on the E21 320 in 1979. The next year saw the M1's most successful World Sports Car Championship finish with a third at the 1,000km of the Nrburgring in the hands of Nelson Piquet and Hans Stuck.

Whether the M1 was obsolete at birth or simply underdeveloped is something fans of the marque may debate, but its technology was arguably sound. A decade on, its engine formed the basis for the E30 M3's S14 four-cylinder, dominating racing categories around the world even into the E36 era. The six itself remained in production into the 1990s, eventually developed to 3.8L and 340 hp in the European M5.

The M1 is significant because it is where M road cars began. With road cars as understated as they were radical and race cars the equal of any for flamboyance, it pioneered the dual nature that is the hallmark of M. In a very real sense, it set the stage for M in both spirit and technology for years to come. It was, and together with other M cars, remains the concentrated essence of BMW.