To challenge the all-conquering Porsche 911 of the late seventies, Jochen Neerpasch, then head of BMW Motorsport, called for an all-new track-focused machine. Lacking the capacity to produce the 400 examples required to meet homologation rules, the German automaker approached mid-engine expert Lamborghini. Miura mastermind Giampaolo Dallara reportedly helped develop a tubular steel space-frame chassis, but with economic headwinds challenging the ailing Italian firm, BMW took its M1 project in-house in April 1978.
Despite the schism, the project remained a multinational effort with the car’s fiberglass body penned by the talented Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign and manufactured by TIR in Reggio Emilia, Italy, while Marchesi of Modena assembled the chassis before Italdesign unified the two in Turin. From there, the nearly completed M1s were shipped to Germany where Baur would install the Paul Rosche-designed, hand-built M88/1 3.5-liter screaming inline-six engine.
These efforts birthed BMW’s one and only supercar, and the first model to wear the company’s vaunted “M” moniker. Built from 1978 to 1981, just 56 race-prepped M1s would fulfill BMW Munich’s motorsport ambitions. The remaining 399 examples in roadgoing trim were built to homologate the model for competition.
