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complicated and tricky start to the M1s production make her the car she is today.
The original desire was to homologate a sports car to take on Porsche in Group 4. The road cars were simply a necessity for homologation. Only 399 road chassis were produced. The project was started in 1975 and was made official to the press at the Geneva motor show in 1977.
BMW needed help with areas of the design and production from outside of Munich. A joint venture between Lamborghini, Michelotti and ItalDesign were to work alongside BMW Motorsport to design, produce and develop the M1. Terrible financial problems at Lamborghini caused the contract to be cancelled. This delayed the project dreadfully, while negotiations with Baur to take over where Lamborghini had left off took place. Baur made a slow start once production got back under way.
A group of ex-Lamborghini employees started a company called Italenginnering who then agreed to help get the M1 fully back on track.
Unfortunately all these production problems delayed the launch of the M1 so badly they were unable to homologate the car for Group 4.
This could have been the final nail in the coffin for the M1 had it not been for the fantastic idea in 1979 of Procar. An insane, 1 make championship supporting the all rounds of the F1 calendar and driven by the greatest F1 and Touring car drivers of the day. Procar quickly became a far bigger spectator spectacle than the Grand Prix it was supposed to be supporting.
Built around a tubular space frame with reinforced fibreglass panels. This was the first version of the now legendary M88 engine. A 3453cc, 6 cylinder, four valve per cylinder, twin camshaft with dry sump, mechanical fuel injection and individual butterfly housings, producing 277 BHP and 330 Nm of torque. A ZF close ratio 5 speed gearbox. Front and rear independent double wishbone suspension, Bilstein dampers, BMW Motorsport Springs with front and rear anti-roll bars.Ventilated disc brakes all round with Rack and pinion steering. 16×7 and 16X8 Campagnolo wheels finished the M1 off superbly.
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1981 BMW M1 - 3 Owners from new - 7,240 KM
This M1 is an exceptional low mileage example having covered only 7,200 KM from new.
Originally supplied to BMW Italy at the end of 1981 for an Italian Doctor who then never took delivery. The first owner bought the car fromBMW Italy in February 1982 and showing less than 100 KM on the clock. He had the car delivered to Fulham in London and put in to storage where she remained unregistered until the 1986. She remained in professional storage until 1995 and was barely driven. Just the odd special occasion. He then moved the car to his personal garage in Hyde Park.
An email from the first owner is in the history file and explains his ownership in detail along with the Inland Revenue documents showing the VAT and import duty were paid when first registered by him in 1986. The car was then sold with 5,480 KM to the second owner by Bramley Garage in March 2006. The car was added to his collection in London and he covered a mere 940 KM over nine years.
Our customer became the third owner in January 2015 with this M1 now showing 6,420 KM. Although loved dearly by this owner he needs to make room for another car purchase and she is offered for sale today with only 7,240 KM from new.
The car has very recently benefited from a full service, new rear exhaust box, new fuel pump relay, new lower engine pan gasket, rebuilt front brake callipers and all new Continental tyres.
At the current owners request, we have carried out a very detailed workshop inspection. The purpose of this report is to highlight any obvious faults and ensure that any preventive maintenance is carried out to ensure this very low mileage example is preserved.
So often with low mileage cars, they have sat in collections and not been used. This itself can cause problems. The owners instruction is to ensure the car is turnkey, 100% reliable and could be driven to the South of France and back if required. A total known quantity!
The following is now being carried out in our workshop ready to hand over to the new owner.
· Repair fuel tank sender unit
· New cam cover gaskets
· New timing chain tensioner seal
· Replace header tank cap
· Replace coolant hoses as required
· Replace radiator bleed screw
· Replace rotor arm & distributor cap
· Carry out repairs and service to air conditioning
system
· Fit new over mats
· Replace reverse light switch
· Replace fuel hoses as required
· Brakes stripped cleaned and inspected
· Oil tank removed cleaned and inspected with camera
· Very carefully inspect space frame. Clean detail and treat with clear cavity wax as required
Please contact Barney to discuss this very low mileage BMW M1