BMW is perhaps within the behavior of placing M badges on nearly every little thing as of late however that wasn’t all the time the case. When the BMW M Division was first born it started with one particular automotive that set excessive requirements. That supercar was the M1 and this one which’s simply grow to be out there at public sale was initially ordered by the person who led the M Division itself.
That man is Jochen Neerpasch. Earlier than taking the lead at BMW’s M Division he was a profitable race automotive driver earlier than altering careers to handle motorsports groups. In his management position at BMW, he passionately drove the event of the M1 in a quest to plant a flag for the corporate on this planet of motorsports.
Regardless of being a business failure, the M1 did simply that and continues to be a highly-desirable mannequin many years later. This specific mannequin on consignment via RM Sotheby’s was Neerpasch’s private automotive. The itemizing says that he purchased the automotive as a present to himself after leaving BMW in 1980. Actually, that makes this automotive distinctive however there’s extra to like about this M1.
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That is certainly one of simply 4 M1s to go away the manufacturing unit sporting Gray paint. It’s possible the one one to even have a brown inside. Neerpasch drove the automotive till he accepted a place at Worldwide Administration Group and offered it within the mid-Eighties. Of that, he advised RM Sotheby’s “this was certainly one of my errors in life.”
Even with out its unbelievable historical past and uncommon paint shade, that is nonetheless a really particular automotive. The physique was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and the chassis was crafted by Gian Paolo Dallara. The three.5-liter fuel-injected inline-six beneath the rear decklid developed 273 hp (204 kW) and 243 lb-ft (330 Nm) of torque. It sends that energy to the rear wheels solely by way of a five-speed handbook transmission constructed by ZF.
The entire package deal is on supply with out reserve till the public sale closes on November twenty sixth. We wouldn’t be shocked to see it go for properly over six figures. The customer’s premium for something over €200,000 is 15 % on prime of the worth too.