What better way to end ///May week with a legend? This is the BMW M1. An Italian wedge with a German straight 6 that screams from behind the driver.
There’s an incredible story behind the M1 that most of you probably already know. The car was designed by Giugiaro and was being manufactured in partnership with Lamborghini. When Lamborghini fell into bankruptcy in the late 70's, BMW literally had to break into the closed Lamborghini factory and steal their own cars for finishing. A group of (former) Lamborghini employees started their own shop down the road and finished the cars for BMW.
Unlike the Norev M5 that I showed off yesterday, this one is full of opening features. The doors, engine compartment, and the small front compartment all open. This M1 has an active suspension too!
The quality of the car is pretty good. There’s some chips missing from the front endge of the doors. Unfortunately this guy sustained some damage in my big move from MA to NC. I had to reattach one of the delicate mirrors and pop the roof antenna back in. There’s also a paint chip on the nose, but I’m not exactly sure how it happened since I had the car screwed down to it’s base. Oh well, I edited it out of most pics using Snapseed.
Around back, we find the legendary M88 straight six which also found it’s way into the more civilized M5 and M6 later in the 80's. Norev left us with a lot to be desired in regards to the details of the engine, but I’m just happy the hatch opens after yesterday! I wish there was a prop to hold up the hatch too, I had to crop my stubby fingers out of this photo.
An amazing feature Norev decided to include was working pop-up head lights! There’s a short toggle switch under the front of the car which activates them, and we’re greeted by two crystal clear lenses. The other lenses around the car are done just as well with no mounting posts to be seen.
Again, my main beef with this Norev are the tires. The rubber wheels look a little too tall and just a tad too narrow. The ride height seems a but excessive, and my front left wheel’s alignment was a bit wonky, for the lack of a better word.
While not as sexy as an M1 Procar, the road car is still very desirable by automobile collectors. With only 450 or so built and prices creeping up towards that million dollar mark, this 1:18 might be as close as I get to owning the real deal. I’m hoping someone like Norev makes a 1:18 of the recent Capena Procar restoration...
