BMW Z3 2.2 Gallery-3

Note: One recommends reading the diary first and then linking to workshop notes to maintain the continuity of the theme...

The first car to wear the prestigious ‘M’ badge, the M1 really was the product of BMW’s Motorsport Division.

Originally conceived for Group 5 racing, it missed the chance due to its late delivery, so BMW created the Procar series instead to support Formula One races for two seasons.

The 277bhp 3.5-litre straight-six engine was mid-mounted and gave the M1 impressive pace. This didn’t improve its appeal to road car customers much and only 456 were made in total.

Scolded by this, BMW didn’t return to a mid-engined road car layout again until its four-seat i8 hybrid in 2014.

Back in the late-’70s, BMW had the bright idea of commissioning Lamborghini to design and build a road car to go racing. Seven prototypes were built before Lambo’s finances failed.

Several of the Italian manufacturer’s employees then formed a breakaway company, finished the engineering for BMW and the rare M1 was born.

Just 453 production versions of the first M-series car were built, complete with fuel-injected 3.5-liter engines good for 277HP.

In 2016, reports surfaced of an ultra-low-mileage M1 that had been stashed away in an Italian garage for 34 years beneath piles of junk.

Remarkably, the machine – built in 1981 – had reportedly never been registered and had a mere 7329km (c4500 miles) on the clock. All of its numbers matched, too.

German specialist Mint Classics rescued the car and began a sensitive restoration process which was completed in 2018, leaving the M1 as one of the finest examples around.