1980 BMW M1 Procar

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

How do you take one of the coolest “classical supercars” and make it look even more badass? Turn it into a killer race car for a one-make series, that’s how. BMW built 399 M1 road cars between 1978 and 1981, along with 53 race cars.

Those race cars were destined for the BMW M1 Procar Championship, a one-make series devised by the head of BMW Motorsport. Strange homologation rules sort of necessitated the series, which was run as a Formula One support series for the 1979 and 1980 seasons. The cars were also used in different sports car racing series all over the world.

M1 Procars were more or less ground-up race cars. They had big front and rear wings, among many other changes from the road cars, and they are powered by a 3.5-liter inline-six tweaked to make 470 horsepower (the road car made 273).

The race history for this car, #36, includes:

1982 24 Hours of Daytona – 40th, DNF (with Joe Crevier, Fred Stiff, and Dennis Wilson)
1982 12 Hours of Sebring – 19th (with Crevier, Paul Fassler, and Bob Zeigel)

The car was also driven by Al Unser Jr. prior to the 1982 season. It’s been completely restored and used in historic competition. The current owner bought it in 2012 and it’s now for sale in Europe. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2020, $913,000.