The BMW M1 (the E26 if you’re keeping score at home) was designed as a homologation car to be built in sufficient numbers to allow BMW to race them in Group 5 international competition. The mid-engine car was to be built by Lamborghini, but that company was in financial trouble and things just didn’t work out. The M1’s tortuous path to production took so long that rule changes made the M1 ineligible; so instead, BMW created a race series just for the M1—the ProCar series, which was run in conjunction with Formula 1 races.
BMW called it quits for the road version of the M1 after 399 street-legal cars were built. As a result, today they are one of the rarest and most sought after of the modern BMWs. And one of the most beautiful, for many BMW fanatics.
M1s come up for sale at auction now and then, and from private sellers often enough that if someone really wants an M1, they can get one—if they have enough money. For a nice M1 at auction, "enough money" now seems to be around $500,000 and up. One BMW M1 in particular should be of interest to BMW fans; it's coming up for auction by RM Sotheby's on December 10 in New York City. Its history includes a connection to a sports superstar that was never really a connection, and an extended warehouse stay.
This 1981 M1 was originally unsold, then imported into the U.S. from Italy to be sold to baseball superstar and non-Hall of Famer Pete Rose. In the meantime, Pete found another M1 on his own and this car sat in a warehouse for more than 30 years with only 682 kilometers on the odometer until it was sold to the current owner who has consigned it for auction.
How much is an original BMW with 424 miles on the clock worth? On December 10th, we’ll see who is willing to pay the premium for a 34-year old, “almost new” BMW M1.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of RM Sotheby’s via GTSpirit.]
