Quote:
Originally Posted by Viffermike
I really don't know how you can say that it didn't compete with Ferrari, Lambo, etc. when:
- The M1 was originally a joint project with Lamborghini, which didn't have the capital at the time to homologate it because it went temporarily bankrupt. So BMW did.
- The M1 was produced in such small numbers that compare far more to an Italian car than the 911 -- which at the time needed to be either a Turbo or a RUF variant to be considered truly 'exotic'
- The M1's body was designed by the same man who designed the body for these contemporary cars: Maserati Quarttroporte & Merak, Ferrari 250 GT, Lotus Esprit (looks similar, actually) Lancia Delta, and the DeLorean
- The M1 made considerably more power than the Ferrari 308 and approached the power made by Lamborghini Miura and the LP400 Lamborghini Countach.
No, the M1 wasn't a supercar. Then again, neither was the 308 or the Countach. They were exotics. Not supercars.
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What I meant by Lamborghini or Ferrari was the V12 models. It did compete with the lower end "sports car" models. You just proved my point. It was a joint endeavor with Lamborghini. You think Lamborghini is going say, "Yes, I will help you make a competitor to the Countach, when we already have our hands full with Ferrari."? Nope. Even looking at Wikipedia it is listed as a sports car.
Don't let your BMW rose tinted glasses fool you. The M1 had 273 hp in street trim. The e28 M5 with the same engine had more horsepower. The Porsche 930 Turbo with the 3.3 from the same time period had about 260ish. The M1 needed
to forced induction to make high hp, and that was with the Pro-Cars. The Miura was making 350 and up, and that is with a V12 and was not in the same era as the M1, end of production for the Miura was 1973.
Supercars of the time were the Countach, the Ferrari 512 BB, etc. The M1 was playing with half the cylinders, and far less horsepower.
Exotics is an umbrella term for Euro super cars and sports cars that tend to come from the higher end brands. The 308 was Ferrari volume sports car, which was an "exotic". The 308 QV made about 245 hp. And the M1 fits that bill as well.
In short, the M1 was a defunct mid-engined sports car experiment from BMW that had a one make racing series (like the Jaguar XJR-14), which when you look back was doomed from the start. And from it's automotive womb came forth the e28 M5, the e30 M3, and the e34 M5 (which used an upgraded version of the e28 M5 engine) and the styling of the 8 series and i8.
And here is the question. If the M1 is remembered so fondly by people, why hasn't BMW decided to venture down that road again? I mean, they could have done it in the mid 2000s. An up-rated S85, or a V12 version by adding two more cylinders. Or in the early 2000s, taking two S54s and putting them together to make an M V12, with bespoked styling. Or even taking a Turbo V12 and wrapping some pseudo-homage body around it.
Why? Because to BMW AG, it's about money, and they don't want to spend money for something that may not have a good return. No matter how much M Division and the public cries for it. And the fact was that the M1 was a bad experiment that people only remember fondly, because the car looked so good.