The BMW M1 was a radical car when it was introduced and it really continues to be a radical car today in many ways. It was so amazingly forward thinking at the time of its introduction. Built from 1978 through 1981 the BMW M1 was the company’s first mid-engine car to see mass production and funnily enough, Lamborghini was going to be a margo part in its existence. That was until typical German-Italian relations came into play and BMW took the whole project in house.
In this video driver Sam Hancock is poured into an M1 and he’s driving at the Spa Classic, which is one of the coolest vintage road racing events in the world because you have professional level drivers like Hancock in cars like this M1 which were born to run and have been maintained in such a state that they still can.
If you are not familiar with the majesty of Spa, you will be here. This is one of the fastest race courses in the world with huge long straights and many sections where lifting is only an option if you don’t have the guts to drive your car the proper way. Breaking news: we would not have the guts to drive our car the proper way here. At least not like Hancock does!
How good is Hancock? Well in this video he drives himself right to the pole position for the event and his class so that’s an indication of how smooth, fast, and gutsy both the driver and car are. A 3.5L inline six powered these cars with the racing versions getting the full treatment from engineers to maximize durability and power for situations just like this. An awesome car and an awesome driver.
This car has been my “ultimate dream car” ever since 1978. I got to see one briefly once in downtown Cincinnati on my lunch hour. The sound was mesmerizing.
Beautifully driven car. I was at Sebring a few years ago for the HSR historics the day before the 12 hour, there was an M1 there, it was a gorgeous car, but the loudest race car I’ve ever heard. It made a mind numbing noise.