The scent of the BMW M1
11/07/2018
Certainly, nowadays the BMW M1 no longer has to fight for recognition. It was different almost 40 years ago, when the last examples were almost impossible to sell. Back then, the M1 cost about as much as a Ferrari 512 BB and only had half the number of cylinders, not to mention a plastic body. However, the Procar racing series soon created a kind of cult around the car, and further racing successes did the rest.
Nevertheless, the M1s were not much in demand among collectors; I can remember myself being offered a good-looking white example for 70,000 francs about 15 or 20 years ago, which was the price of a Ferrari 308 GTS at the time.
However, this has changed in the last few years, which also has to do with the fact that only around 450 examples (including the racing cars) were built between 1978 and 1981, making the M1 rarer than most Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars of the time. And for comparison: over 1300 of the Ferrari F40 were produced, 106 of the McLaren F1 and not quite 130 of the Bugatti EB110. The BMW M1 is in good company and was also the first M sports car from BMW. Technically, with the exception of the engine, which had to do without the prestigious 8 or 12 cylinders, it hardly had to accept any criticism, because the construction was designed for racing through and through, but was also suitable as a road sports car.
Personally, I also like the design created by Giorgetto Giugiaro. And so, of course, the sales advertisements always catch my eye. Yesterday, however, a very special specimen caught my eye, partly because it was described so lovingly.
The white M1 pictured was sold to a private owner in Munich in 1980, who kept it for 12 years. The sports car returned to Germany via another station in the USA and, according to the seller, has covered just over 52,000 kilometers to date. The M1 is described as very original, including the paintwork (in most places) and the interior.
However, I particularly liked the following words from the advertisement:
"It even smells like a BMW from the early eighties. Anyone who has ever smelled it will get déjà vu as soon as they get in ... and immediately feel at home. It's that mystical mixture of plastic, leather and rubber that you immediately associate with that era."
Can you smell it yet? Can you imagine it? In the pictures, the car actually looks like it left the factory and has been used but also looked after.
Admittedly, the asking price is not a bargain. But is it unrealistic? Probably not, because once the car has been restored, it can never be restored to its original condition. And the trend is clearly moving towards original and, as far as possible, untouched vehicles.
A previously mentioned F40 costs around twice as much today but was sold around three times as often, a McLaren F1 costs at least ten times as much but is not a one-off either. I am therefore sure that the BMW M1 still has room for improvement in terms of price. And don't complain in ten or twenty years' time when it costs a million or more.
Here is a reference to the vehicle advertisement from Classic Cars Dornstetten , which can offer the car on behalf of a customer.
And one more note: next year we hope to portray a road M1 so that we can experience the fascination of this extraordinary vehicle for ourselves and convey it in report form ...
