Call me strange if you must, but whenever a manufacturer shows off the racing version before the street car, things don’t seem to bode well for that model. Case in point: the 1995 Dodge Avenger. The Daytona replacement appeared in IROC racing and other venues months before the street cars were unveiled and people went nuts for the car that had styling cues from the Dodge Stealth in a neat two-door package. Unfortunately, like the Stealth, the Avenger shared it’s bones with the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and it didn’t even get the all-wheel-drive variation that could’ve eased some of the disappointment.

What you are seeing here is the BMW M8 GTE-class race car testing before the 24 Hours of LeMans. It’s a damn big coupe by modern standards and is part of a family of cars that will include a four-door “Gran Coupe” and a convertible model. Given that a broad swath of the buying public is demanding SUVs by the boatload, it’s strange to understand why BMW is adding a large car line, but at least there will be one interesting version – the racing machine that will lap La Sarthe!