BMW M1 and the Procar Series

As the prototype scene faded out, BMW had an idea to get ahead of the curve and challenge Porsche in the GT classes. Under the direction of Jochen Neerpasch, they decided to create a mid-engine 'Supercar', which became the M1. Things went awry when Lamborghini, the chassis maker, couldn't produce the necessary 400 streetgoing units to meet eligability. BMW had to shift assembly back to Germany. By this time, the Porsche turbo 935's were already in their second generation, and the car was only marginally competitive. Facing the embarrasing situation of having built a race car that couldn't race, they came up with a unique solution: Instead of racing mid-field to small (and dropping) sportscar crowds, they made a one-make support race at Formula One events. They gave guest drives to the five fastest in Friday practice, and filled the rest of the grig with German sports car regulars. This way they had huge crowds, raced at Monaco, and were guaranteed to 'win'. The Porsche people must have been pissed.

Total M1 production was 450 cars; 396 street cars and 54 race cars. Serial numbers go to 460 because 10 numbers were skipped along the way

The Minichamps BMW Dealer Regazzoni model is unique in that it has full "Marlboro" markings.

BMW Procar 1980

Place

Car
Sponsor

Car # Class

Model

Ref. #

Image

0

BMW M1 'BASF'

Hans-Georg Bürger

80Minichamps430 802580
0

BMW M1 'Denim'

Heyer

81Minichamps430 802581
0

BMW M1 (Marlboro)

Nelson Piquet

6Minichamps80 42 9 421 476
0

BMW M1 'Marlboro'

Clay Regazzoni

28Minichamps80 42 9 421 476