Bmw M1 1978 - 1981 - Model history

The story of the BMW M1 began in 1975 when it was decided that BMW will not participate in the Formula. So the decision was made to start developing a sports car that would clash with the Porsche 935 as part of the sporting activities. The engine was to be centered and the car to race in Group 4 and 5. The approval required the production of 400 cars. BMW The M1 was introduced in 1978 in Paris and the world went silent. He looked fantastic, had a lot of strength and was fast. It took three years for that to happen. When the planning started, it was decided that 1978 pieces should be made by the spring of 800. The planned quantity caused the first problem: the number was much too small for BMW’s main factory, but too large for the Motorsport department. There was only one possibility left: to find someone outside to make those cars, but that was risky. In late 1975, ItalDesign, led by Giorgetto Giugar, was to design the BMW M1, and by October 1976. Lamborghini was to design and build the car. Of course, the engine would be built in a BMW. The engine was named M88 and was supposed to be an upgraded version of the M90 ​​engine from the 635CSi. However, engineers soon discovered that they could only use the engine block and that they had to re-construct the split head with four valves per cylinder. It all went on and there was no time. As if that wasn't enough, there were problems with the engine mounting, so the final engine wasn't finished until mid-1978. At about the same time, it was discovered that the notion of quality for BMW Lamborghini they do not have the same meaning. The cube with an outside supplier did not pay off and the new fabrication partner was Baur from Stuttgart. So after BMW Motorsport, five companies made up the M1 production chain. Modches Marchesi built a steel chassis according to Lamborghini's design, TIR made fiberglass body, ItalDesign assembled it, and Ital Engineering from Bologna coordinated the German and Italian sides of the cooperation. The final link in the chain was the Baur, which fitted the engine, brakes, suspension and all fine tuned on each car before delivery to BMW Motorsport. So M1 is over, though, but too late.

Due to the failure of the deal with Lamborghini, the car did not manage to fulfill the homologation. So the BMW M1 was ready and made up for combat, but had nowhere to race. Something urgent needed to be done so that the E26 project would not turn into a farce. That is why the competition was organized only for the M1 models in 1979, but people never fully accepted it and the sales did not go well. The homologation was finally issued in April 1981, but then the Bmw M1 was no longer competitive, and BMW decided to go into Formula 1 and the M1 project was shut down. That is how an incredible car was created, which never got a chance to prove itself on the race track. Production plans were never fulfilled; 453 and the last M1 was made in February 1981. Many famous drivers of that time were involved in the development of the car: Ronnie Peterson, Marc Surer, Eddie Cheever, Markus Hoettinger and Hans Joachim Stuck. Each of them drove one charge, and each lasted 1000 km. They should have covered 100 kilometers in a month! Of course, they went wild with cars, because that was their purpose. There were strict rules that were supposed to prevent the car from being noticed by someone. If for any reason the car stopped, it had to be covered and thus disguised. The story of HJ Stuck is also nice: “Once I was driving around 300 km / h and then I heard vuuuš! Something fell off. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the bonnet had fallen off. I didn’t know what to do with him, so I hid him in the woods by the side of the road. I forgot to mark that place, so later I could only tell the mechanics that it was there somewhere. It took the poor two days to find him. "

The engine had a volume of 3453 cm3 distributed in six cylinders with four valves per cylinder. This engine is the ancestor of all engines from the M5 (up to the current V8), engines from the M3 E36 and McLaren F1. The passenger car had 277 hp at 6500 rpm with a maximum torque of 330 Nm at 5000 rpm. That was enough for a top speed of 270 km / h for a car weighing 1300 kg. It accelerated to 100 km / h in 5,6 seconds. The interior was simple and practical, ergonomically perfect, in short, like any BMW. The car could be driven every day, lying on the road was great. Everyone who drove it agrees on one thing: every mile spent behind the wheel of this car was pure pleasure and privilege. The Group 4 race car had 470 hp at 9000 rpm and a top speed of 320 km / h. Acceleration to 100 km / h was 4,5 seconds and the car weighed 1020 kg. There was a version of Group 5. It had a turbo. About her, Stuck says the following: 'Ask every driver what he wants from the car and he will tell you more power. It was an exceptional car. It had 1000 hp and accelerated well above 300 km / h. It was amazing that at a certain speed above 300 km / h, the car simply fell silent. It probably had something to do with aerodynamics. It's like you're in space. But with each brake you would return to Earth. Everything on that car was miraculous except the gearbox. We knew exactly how long the gearbox would last before it broke down. But the chassis and brakes had no problems with those 1000 hp. ' From everything written so far, it becomes clear to you that the Bmw M1 is one of the greatest cars of all time. He is the first of the fantastic cars from Munich to hide behind the letter M.

Engine 6 cylinders 24 valves
Volume 3453 cm3
Power 277 hp at 6500 rpm
Maximum torque 330 Nm at 5000 rpm
Top speed 270 km / h
Acceleration from 0-100 km / h 5,6 s

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