Team Schnitzer

The motorsport team bearing their family name was founded in the early Sixties by Josef and Herbert Schnitzer.  It began as a development of the car sales/workshop business of their stepfather, Karl Lamm, in Freilassing, Germany, north-west of Salzburg.  This had been started by Herbert Schnitzer Snr. before WWII, developing over time into a dealership which represented both Ford and Opel, (and much later, Fiat).  Lamm took it over when Schnitzer died in the late Forties.  Of his stepsons, it was initially Josef who led the way on the track, in a Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero, competing in hill-climbing events during the ’63 season.   That included a victory at the OMK Junioren Pokal event at Freiburg, thus earning for Carlo Abarth one of the numerous win bonus payments from Fiat which were vital to Abarth throughout the Sixties – see https://davidbuckdenlooksback.blogspot.com/2026/04/one-last-fabulous-zagato-abarth-750.html   Already a BMW fan – he had briefly worked at the Munich factory in a vehicle proving role – Josef opted for a 1800 Ti in ’64.  Success with that encouraged the brothers to incorporate the BMW franchise into their business in ’65, while at the same time, running in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, (DRM), he finished sixth in its championship.  In ’66, with a 2000 Ti, he attained his career peak by becoming joint champion, (with Herbert Schultze), driving an Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA.  He then did what can be a racing driver’s toughest challenge – he retired while ‘on top,’ turning his full attention to co-management, with Herbert, of Schnitzer Motorsport, the team’s name formally adopted in ’67.  This post refers only to the Freilassing-based team – the Aachen-located enterprise, AC Schnitzer, focused on automotive tuning and founded by Herbert Schnitzer and Willi Kohl in ’87, is not covered.

 

Schnitzer Motorsport swiftly confirmed its potential by running Ernst Furtmayr in the European Hillclimb Championship with such expertise that he took the championship in ’68 and ’69 with a 2002 Ti, switching to a 2800 CS for ’70 to clinch the title for the third year in a row. And for ’71, Walter Brun took over and also became the year’s champion in a Schnitzer 2800 CS.

Ernst Furtmayr, BMW 2002Ti  EHC, ’69  Courtesy Artur Fenzlau/Erwin Jelinek

Indeed, ’71 truly became a significant season for Schnitzer Motorsport, with increased competitiveness in the European Touring Car Championship, (ETCC), resulting from the teams’ adoption of and effective modification of the Group 2 BMW E9 coupe in compliance with the regulations for the championship’s Division 3, (utilising a 2,996 cc version of the 6 cylinder M52 engine, which developed around 15 bhp more than that extracted from Alpina’s version). The other upgraded competitiveness factor was the quality of the drivers eager to drive for Schnitzer having perceived the potential of the car – Dieter Quester, Rauno Aaltonen, Helmut Kelleners and Gerrard Larrousse, in addition to Ernst Furtmayr. Quester scored a landmark international victory for the team by taking the Zandvoort Trophy, defeating the Ford factory’s potent Capri RS 2600 squad.

Quester leads the Capris of Glemser and Marko, Zandvoort, August ’71  Courtesy Paul Rutten

As the decade progressed, Karl Lamm’s son, known as Charly, was appointed as Team Manager. Under his leadership Schnitzer continued to build expertise and its reputation as a leading team in the Touring Car domain.  However, its ambition had also developed, and by ’75 embraced a desire to succeed in the different realm of single-seater racing. Initially, this saw the team focused on the preparation of BMW engines for the Formula 2 category. This was facilitated by good synergies between the DRM cars programme and Schnitzer’s engine supplier role, both utilising the 2.0 litre BMW engine. This 4 cylinder powerplant, originally designated M10 and credited to Alex von Falkenhausen, started out with a 1.5 litre capacity in ’59, and it had gone into production in ’62. It was an integral part of the Neue Klasse models programme, commonly held to have ‘saved’ BMW. The M10 was updated by Paul Rosche, becoming an even more key feature for BMW as in its M12 guise it was capable to delivering exceptional power outputs, culminating in the turbocharged version which powered Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BT52 to the ’83 drivers F1 World Championship. Its M12/13 engine was said to be giving over 800 bhp in qualifying that season – and, subsequently, in ’86, around 1,450 bhp! For Formula 2, Schnitzer designed and made its own twin-cam, 16 valve cylinder head, creating the 20-4 engine. With Kugelfischer fuel injection, the 20-4 ran with a compression ratio of 11.3:1, making 285 bhp at 9,200 rpm and 353 Nm torque at 6,200 rpm. The engine was in ’75 highly successful in chassis made by Martini, Elf and March. French driver, Jacques Laffite won 7 of the 14 rounds in a Martini Mk.16, taking the title and confirming the dominance of the Schnitzer engine.

F2 Martini-Schnitzer of Jacques Laffite, ‘75  Courtesy Benoit Flandre

The following year, Schnitzer secured an agreement with Toyota to prepare engines for the Japanese manufacturer’s rally activities in Europe. With both parties satisfied with the results, Toyota committed to a programme geared to a European sales promotional objective – participation in the high profile German DRM series with a Schnitzer-developed, turbocharged Celica Liftback. Built by Schnitzer to Group 5 specification to race in the DRM’s 1st Division, its 2.0 litre engine was based on the 18R-G unit, though with modifications as well proven on the BMW-based 20-4, i.e. 16 valves and Kugelfischer injection. It was however the addition of a KKK turbocharger which gave rise to eager anticipation of on-track success, as this endowed the car with 560 bhp of propulsive power, while body/chassis modifications enabled a significantly lowered kerb weight of just 860 Kg.

Toyota Celica Liftback Turbo  Courtesy Fastestlaps.com

The ’77 DRM season was however over halfway through before the Celica was ready, making its debut at Hockenheim, with Harald Ertl at the wheel, in July.  That fact alone probably confirmed that the whole development/preparation process had been far too hurried, so it was not surprising that the car was clearly outpaced by the several Porsche 935s with which it was competing.  Equally, an early retirement, on lap 5, was not unexpected.  At the next round, at Zolder, Ertl was again an early race retirement.  Subsequently, at the Nurburgring, he was at least able to record the car’s first finish, but only in fourth place, again unable to match the speed of the 935 contingent.  

Undaunted, Schnitzer wheeled the Celica out for a second season in the DRM.  By the end of ’78, however, it could be concluded that it had been a half-hearted effort.  Of eleven rounds, the Toyota took part in only five.  Driver, Rolf Stommelen, got the car to the finish in only one – at Mainz-Finthen – taking 8^th place.  Meanwhile, Ertl, who had endured a similarly miserable time the year before, won five rounds in a Schnitzer 320 Turbo, enough to see him clinch the championship.

Toyota Celica Liftback Turbo, ‘78

Harald Ertl, BMW 320 Turbo, ’78 DRM champion  Courtesy Bonhams Cars

The 320 remained a competitive proposition as the new decade began.  Hans Joachim Stuck demonstrated this at the ’80 Macau Guia Race.  Schnitzer provided the car run the previous year for Manfred Winkelhock, but with a normally aspirated engine in place of the turbo unit.  It had been driven at some ’80 events by Harald Grohs while still turbocharged.  Stuck took over around mid-season and was entered for the Asian event in November.  He took pole and then, the day previous to the Guia race, experienced a major engine blow-up.  After replacement, however, the car ran well enough for victory in the race.

Hans Joachim Stuck, Macau, ‘80

 

As the Eighties progressed however, Schnitzer’s focus switched to the BMW 6 Series Coupe.  The team’s reworking of the 635 CSi as a Group A Touring Car proved highly successful.  By ’82 the TWR Jaguar was seen as the car to beat, so BMW set to work to get the E24 635 homologated with a build programme of 5,000 cars, (5,118 in the event).  The regulations allowed for substantial modifications, including to the engine, which in normal road trim generated around 215 bhp.  To compete in Group A an output of near 300 bhp was seen as necessary.  To meet this objective, BMW turned to Alpina for a pure race version of the M30, (while other road-orientated 635 CSis utilised M90 and M88/3 variants).  The Buchloe-based tuner responded with modifications which took power up to over 290 bhp.  As with the M1 programme, BMW managed the creation and running of the works cars by complementing the work assigned to M Sport Division (transmission/running gear).  This took the form of a co-ordination of contributory development and manufacturing work by ‘outside’ specialists: Alpina (engine), Karmann (chassis/body), and Schnitzer, (assembly, preparation, race running).

Seen below is chassis #RA1-07. As described by ultimatecarpage.com, it ‘debuted with an outright victory in the Monza 500 km in the hands of Carlo Rossi and Dieter Quester. A regular podium finisher, it won again at the Nürburgring round of the European Touring Car Championship with Quester and Manfred Winkelhock behind the wheel. Schnitzer ended the year as European Champions and this chassis was retired from contemporary racing.'

#RA-07, Monza, ’83, Quester/Rossi  Courtesy BMW  Courtesy BMW

Fielded for the factory in Original Teile livery by Schnitzer Motorsport, this 635 CSi became a regular podium finisher and it won again at the Nürburgring round of the European Touring Car Championship with Quester and Manfred Winkelhock behind the wheel. Schnitzer ended the year as European Champions and this chassis was retired from contemporary racing. Retained by BMW, it is today part of the BMW Classic collection and regularly shown and demonstrated at events all over Europe.  Schnitzer fielded a second 635 CSi for Stuck and Walter Brun, finishing the season in 5^th place.  For ’84 the Schnitzer driver pairings were Stuck/Quester and Roberto Ravaglia/Gerhard Berger.  Despite such a strong driver line-up, the previous season’s success was not repeated.  However, it was one of the team who would soon come to personify the 1980s strength and competitiveness of the Schnitzer name – Ravaglia.  It was his victory, (in partnership with Berger and Surer), in ’85 at Spa, that saw a further elevation in the team’s standing, it being its first in a 24 hour event.  Adding to the kudos, a second Schnitzer 635 CSi crewed by Quester, Cecotto and Markus Oestreich was second, albeit 4 laps behind.

Winner, Spa 24 Hours, ‘85  Courtesy BMW

 

’86 saw a robust bounce back in the ETCC, Ravaglia taking the title by a margin of 8 points from Win Percy, who with Tom Walkinshaw was highly competitive throughout the season in the Bastos Texaco Racing Team’s Rover Vitesse.  Meanwhile, Quester, Altfrid Heger and Thierry Tassin won a second successive Spa 24 Hours for Schnitzer.

'86 Spa 24 Hours – winner, Dieter Quester

’86 ETC champion, Ravaglia (with Emanuele Pirro)  Courtesy Forza Forums

With many excellent performances in both individual races and championships, there could be no complaints at Freilassing about the suitability of the E24 as a basis for a good performing/handling race car. However, there was a need for a further competitiveness upgrade for ’87, given the anticipated speed of the M3 model adopted by Linder Motorsport and the Ford Sierra RS Cosworths of both Eggenberger Motorsport and Jolly Club. Thus, Schnitzer also prepared BMW M3s for the new season. With one of these, Jean-Michel Martin, Didier Theys and Eric van de Poele gave Schnitzer its third successive Spa 24 Hours triumph, while Ravaglia and the team became Division 2 World Touring Car champions. The WTCC proved to be just a one-off in the era, mainly because of poor organisation which itself resulted in an unexpectedly small (15) field of entered cars, the main contenders being BMW, Ford and Alfa Romeo. The following year, focus reverted to the ETCC, and, again, Ravaglia was on top in the championship in a Schnitzer M3, and with Quester and Heger, chalked up yet another 24 Hours victory at Spa.

’87 WTCC – champion, Ravaglia, M3, at the Nurburgring  Courtesy BMW

’88 Ravaglia, M3 at Silverstone  Courtesy BMW

Schnitzer finished up the decade impressively. Ravaglia steered an M3 Evo to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, (DTM), championship and contributed to a 24 Hours of Nurburgring victory, while Johnny Cecotto became ‘89’s Italian Touring Car champion. There had been 11 rounds in the DTM and throughout Ravaglia had been in a close battle with the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth of Klaus Niedzwiedz, eventually outscoring the Team Eggenberger star by just 11 points, with fellow Team Schnitzer driver, Fabien Giroix, in third place.

’89 Ravaglia, BMW M3 Evo, DTM champion  Courtesy BMW

That year BMW made 480 Johnny Cecotto Edition M3s.  These had some race car-like features including a 200 + bhp version of the S14 engine, front and rear spoilers and lightweight glass.

Johnny Cecotto Edition M3, ’89  Courtesy Stance Works

If Schnitzer had been pleased with its on-track exploits in the Eighties, they may well have moved on to being ecstatic about the following decade’s achievements.  Especially satisfying were the 24 Hour race victories at Spa in ’90 and ’95, at the Nurburgring in ’91 and ’98, and, most of all, Le Mans in ’99, (BMW V12 LMR, driven by Winkelhock, Yannick Dalmas and Pierluigi Martini).  As to Touring Car championships, Schnitzer took the Italian in ’90 and ‘91, (Ravaglia), Asia-Pacific ’94, (Winkelhock), Japan ’95, (Steve Soper), German Super ’95, (Winkelhock) and ’98, (Cecotto).  Also notable was a 1-2-3 at the ‘92 Macau Guia, (Pirro, Winkelhock, Ravaglia), and victory at the ‘99 12 Hours of Sebring, (Jörg Müller, JJ Lehto, Tom Kristensen).

’90 Spa 24 Hours  Courtesy Glyn Parham

'91 Nurburgring – M3 Evo 2  Courtesy © 2023 dailysportscar.com

’92 Macau – M3 Evo – 1-2-3

’99 Le Mans. The winning BMW V12 LMR #  Courtesy BimmerLife

 

Showing how the business had grown, this view of the team in ’99 speaks for itself

That ’99 triumph at Circuit de la Sarthe was attributed to ‘BMW Motorsport.’  This had become the Schnitzer team’s name on race entries and would remain in use intermittently for the rest of its active existence.  As the full-blown factory team, BMW Motorsport switched some of its focus to GT class racing in the U.S. and this resulted in its securing of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2001.

Subsequently, the team was once again seen competing as ‘BMW Team Germany’ in the WTCC from ’05-’09.  This proved to be a highly rewarding programme, with many race victories recorded by drivers, Jörg Müller, Dirk Müller, and Augusto Farfus.  In ’05 both Jörg and Dirk Müller won 3 races each, with Dirk 2^nd and Jörg 5^th in the championship at year end.  Champion in ’05 was the UK BMW team and it repeated this achievement in both ’06 and ’07.  However, BMW Team Germany chalked up 5 wins in both ’06 and ’07, 3 in ’08 and 6 in ’09. 

From ’12-’16 focus moved to the DTM. Schnitzer driver Bruno Spengler secured the series title for himself and the Team and Manufacturer’s titles for Schnitzer and BMW respectively. Subsequently, Schnitzer ran the factory entries in the International GT Challenge, continuing to perform strongly and consistently, with, for example, a highlight Farfus win in the FIA GT World Cup, Macau, in ‘18, in a Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3.

’18 Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3, Macau  Courtesy BMW

Following the Macau win, Herbert Schnitzer Jnr. took over the teams’ management from Charly Lamm.  In ’20, success seemed likely to be ongoing, evidenced, for example, by a third place finish in the Nurburgring 24 Hours with a BMW M6 GT3 in the hands of Farfus, Jens Klingmann, Sheldon van der Linde and Martin Tomczyk.  However, in December of that year it was announced that BMW’s association with Schnitzer was at an end.  At the same time, a similar decision was made in regard to Team RBM.  With immediate effect, the development of a new BMW M4 GT3 and its running as from ’21 would be undertaken by BMW Team RMG, founded by Stefan Reinhold in 2010 and based at Niederzissen.  For Schnitzer it was the end.  Through its long standing dedication to a single ‘client,’ it had left itself vulnerable in the event that the client should decide ‘to go elsewhere.’  Equally, nonetheless, that focus/dedication had made for a highly successful collaboration and had enabled BMW to bask in the glory of a great many race and championship victories – the Munich giant had certainly had value for money!

Soon after the forgoing account was finalised, it was announced on 7^th June 2026 that, sadly, Herbert had died.

The One and Only - Part 3

Group 5 being virtually a silhouette formula with extensive modifications allowed, the cars were built by race car constructors, (and in any event, BMW itself had lost interest in sports car racing, its focus by then squarely on its F1 engine programme which would lead to the M12/13 turbocharged 4 cylinders used in Nelson Piquet’s Brabham to win the ’83 drivers world championship).  From the ’81 season, a number of Procars were taken over by teams for racing in such series as the DRM - Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, forerunner of the DTM.  Such cars, remaining with atmospheric engines were seen in both Group 4 and Group 5 events, the following being examples:  #4301028 – an ex-Lauda Procar, prepared by Michael Cane Racing.  It was purchased by Steve O’Rourke and run by his team, EMKA Productions/Racing.  O’Rourke himself drove the car with various partners, including Derek Bell, David Hobbs, Chris Craft and Eddie Jordan.  Two class wins were recorded in ’81 and the car ran at Le Mans in both ’81 and ’82, though failed to finish both years.  #4301269 – a car looked after by DM Engineering was entered by BMW/BMW U.S. for races in the summer of ’81 at Watkins Glen and Mosport, driven by Hobbs/Surer and Hobbs/Stuck respectively, but was a non-finisher on both occasions.

More radical cars with twin turbocharged engines were anticipated to run in Group 5, (Special Production Cars), a category replaced by Group C for the ’83 season. It has been reported that three Group 5 cars were built by March, two by Sauber and one by both Martini Racing and Schnitzer. Best documented are the Saubers. The first of these, usually entered by Sauber itself, and, sometimes, BMW Italia, was mainly campaigned in the DRM, not with much success in ’81, with five DNFs. In the hands of Walter Nussbaumer it did however finish 3rd at Hockenheim. ’82 was a little better – Enzo Calderari took it to victory at a race in Dijon, and, partnered by Kelleners and Umberto Grano, it managed 3rd overall and first in class at the Nurburgring 1,000 km WEC event. The following year, Calderari and Marco Vanoli were victorious at the Hockenheim 3 Hours. The car subsequently competed in Scandinavia, in ’86-’88, mainly driven by Jürg Bächi, recording several podium place finishes.

The second Sauber M1 – distinctive with the iconic BASF livery -  got off to a very good start, winning the ’81 WEC Round 7 at the Nurburgring (1,000 km), driven by Stuck and Piquet.  This was a significant result against strong Group 5 opponent Lancia Montecarlos and Porsche 935s.  In this race, incidentally, there was also a Group 4 M1 GT class win for Kurt König and Peter Oberndorfer.  Next up was Le Mans, but this was not a success.  Both this, (driven by Stuck, Jarier and Henzler), and the sister, (driven by Surer, Quester and Deacon), Sauber M1 mentioned above, failed to finish.  The former was out after only 57 laps with accident damage, while the sister suffered a terminal engine failure at 207 laps.  This second Sauber M1 gave Christian Danner a podium finish in the DRM at Zolder, but was destroyed by an accident at the Kyalami 9 Hours in November ’81.

Group 5 M1 Sauber #2, Le Mans, ‘81

The March involvement was quite convoluted.  Its beginnings predated the launch of the Procar series and were based on the principle that March would do all the work on the chassis creation whilst BMW focused only on the further development of the M88 engine with forced induction.  At the time, March was leaning on a man in his mid-twenties, John Gentry.  The marque’s confidence in someone with limited previous experience was evidenced by his being entrusted to design a race-purpose, aluminium M1 monocoque chassis.  Aluminium also figured extensively, along with composites, in the M1-similar body’s construction.  Initially the car, designated Mk.1, was fitted with a normally aspirated version of the M88, good for around 475 bhp.  The car was running early in ’79, but could not be readied for any existing racing class use prior to homologation of the M1 for Group 4.  However, a second chassis with normally aspirated M88 engine was entered for the Le Mans 24 Hours run on 10/11^th ’79.  Crewed by Guy Edwards, Ian Grob and Quester, it ran in class S2, but failed to qualify for the race.   Late in the year another car was built for Jim Busby, an American with a good deal of driving experience in Porsche 911/934/935 cars run by Brumos and who had plans to enter it in IMSA GTX classification events in ’80.  The car was designated #03 and first appeared at the Daytona 24 Hours, February ’80.  Busby is said to have had the engine replaced with a Chevrolet unit.  That Spring, he entered it also for races at Sebring, Road Atlanta and Riverside, but only finished at Road Atlanta, so his enthusiasm was extinguished and the car passed to Bob Gregg while Busby reverted to a Porsche 935.  Gregg also contested three GTP races, in summer ’82, but, was rewarded with three DNFs.  In February ’83 he tried his luck at the Miami G.P. but could finish no higher than 25^th.  A further car was built to replace #001 which was written off in a ’80 crash.  The details and various versions of these March M1s were not well documented at the time and I have not been able to verify, for instance, that Busby’s car did compete with a Chevrolet engine.

Second March M1, Le Mans, ‘79

The Martini M1 bore chassis number 4301059.  It competed in ’81 at Mugello, entered by BMW Italia/ORECA, at Monza (1,000 km) (ORECA), Le Mans (BMW Italia) and Kyalami (BMW Italia).  Success was limited, though Teo Fabi and Quester finished 4^th at the Monza 1,000 km.  The car was a TOTAL entry for Le Mans the following season, finishing 18^th.

Group 5 Martini M1, Monza, ‘81

The Team Schnitzer car was entered for most of the DRM events of the ’81 season, with Hans Stuck at the wheel.  There were wins at the Norisring and Salzburg, a 2^nd at Hockenheim and a couple of 3^rd places.  Stuck’s position in the end of season table was 8^th.

Group 5 Schnitzer M1, Hans Stuck, DRM

Almost half a century after the M1’s heyday, one man remains hyperactive in ensuring that the model does not exist today only in museum exhibit/garage queen form.  He is Fritz Wagner, based at Kolbermoor, south east of Munich, on the way to Salzberg.  He first became acquainted with the M1 when working at Project Four on the preparation of the Procars for the ’79 season.  Subsequently he moved to the Manfred Cassani team where he helped prepare and run the Procars driven by Hans Stuck in ’79 and in ‘80 by Manfred Winkelhock and Christian Danner.  Then, and in all the years since, Fritz has made it his main mission in life to locate, buy and store complete M1 cars and the full range of parts needed for their repair and upkeep.  In an interview by Johan Dillen for Classic Motorsports, Wagner explained:  ““I was the only one to show any interest in the old parts.”  I’d haggle with Ron Dennis over a gearbox.  I’d give mechanics some drinking money in exchange for parts.  It was no free ride, but really, they all charged just a fraction of what these parts cost – and I was the only one willing to give any money for them.  In Munich, the Motorsport guys would throw it all away.  Again, I was the only one who would come to retrieve these parts before they were destroyed.  I would just leave them here on the floor at my home.  At the time, I had no clear idea what to do with all this, but I knew it would come in handy one day.”  How right Fritz was.  In the last few years M1/Procar reunion events have become a very popular strand in the classic car/historic motorsport scene.  One especially notable example was held in ’19 at the Norisring, with several of the 14 cars visiting being run at speed on the track.  For this to be possible, there is much reliance on Fritz and his knowledge, expertise and stock of parts.  So there is a happy confluence involving a truly iconic car of the late 20^th Century and the ultimate supportive enthusiast, still so single mindedly focused well into the 21^st!

Surviving examples of both the road-going M1 and Procar models are regularly offered for resale.  The asking/estimated/realised average price of an M1 in recent years has been £435,000, while £890,000 is the average for Procars.  Seen below are examples of M1s recently marketed:

 

#4301006  As might be inferred from the chassis number, this is an early production M1.  In describing the car, vendors, Gallery Aaldering, stated: ‘It is the third M1 ever built and, according to factory records, the first street-legal version used by BMW for training sessions and promotional events before being sold to its first private owner.  Originally delivered from the factory in striking Inka Orange, it was initially used by BMW as a service training car.  Later sold to Alf Gebhardt, a former BMW works driver and Procar participant.’  The asking price was €599.500.

#4301097  Bonham’s auction lot description included: ‘At the time of cataloguing, the odometer reading was 141,000 kilometres, a testament to BMW reliability and the fact that the M1 has always been, and still is, a very useable supercar.’‘  The sale estimate was given as €390,000 - €440,000.

#4301160  This car is at the other end of the usage spectrum – Munich Legends’s advertisement for it indicating that it had covered just 5,000 km from new.

#4301170  Vendor, Broad Arrow, said that this was one of 71 M1s finished in red.  Its first owner, a figure in the German music industry, commissioned modifications to give the car the appearance of a Procar, as can be seen in the photographs below.  Broad Arrow’s auction lot value estimate was €450-€550,000.

#4301180  Sotheby’s sold this M1 in 2025 for £398,750.  The auction house noted: ‘Marked as complete by Baur in February 1980, its original colourway was Toprot over a Schwarz part-leather interior.‘

#4301226  Another sale handled by Sotheby’s.  This ’80-built example was finished in blue, ex-factory.  It was restored in recent times by Bruce Canepa’s highly respected Scott’s Valley, CA-located business.  The price tag on this one was $580,000.

#4301292  Is an example of the relatively rare commodity – an M1 listed on Bring a Trailer.  Not that the platform is an inappropriate place from which to offer such a car, as evidenced by the winning bid value of $580,000 (2024).  Thinking again of rarity, the car’s colour certainly qualifies – as the BaT description explains: ‘. . .one of three cars delivered from the factory in black, it was built on July 15, 1980, and was delivered new in England.’  It is another which has benefitted from attention at the Canepa workshop.  A low mileage – just 30,000 – car which looks both sleek and sinister!

#4301332  A late’80-built car. Reseller, Hero Motor Company, looked for £495,000, listing particular plus points of upgraded seat trimming (half leather), the Nachtblau finish, shared by only 58 other road-going M1s and only 39,500 km recorded.

#4301364  Is another M1 painted blue when manufactured in October ’80 – it has subsequently been repainted in a metallic red.  Over the years it has been in use in France, the U.S. and Singapore, but was in Monaco in 2024 when it was sold by RM Sotheby’s for €342,500.

#4301378  Gooding Christie’s sold this November ’80 manufactured M1 in January ’26, realising a price of €522,500.  Said to be the 308^th  example built and with just 53,000 km on the clock.  Its VIN plate is shown below, right.  Note that the standard, highly distinctive Campagnolo wheels have been replaced with BBS rims.  A set of the Campagnolos was recently offered on eBay for $40,000 – see below, centre.

#4301413  Originally Inka, this is a ’81-made M1.  It failed to sell at Broad Arrow’s ‘25 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Auction, at which the estimate was €475-575,000.

Three example Procars are seen below.

#4301057  Built in May ’79, this car was race prepared by Osella.  Subsequently, it went to Vasek Polak’s Dealership at Manhattan Beach, California, remaining long term in Polak’s well-known collection.  It changed ownership in ’25 for  $1,600,000.

#4301195  First owner was Joe Crevier who started racing in partnership with Al Unser Jnr.  He used this Procar to contest the ’81 IMSA GTO Championship, finishing 3^rd in class.  He ran in this again the following season, taking in both the Daytona 24 Hours and the 12 Hours of Sebring.  However, in May ’82, he abruptly stopped competing and sold the car to Don Walker of Dallas Motorsport.  The car left the U.S. in the late Eighties when purchased by a collector located in Switzerland.  In 2020 it changed hands for $913,000.

#4301302  An ’80-manufactured M1, this car was modified up to Procar specification in ’82 by Walker Brown Racing for participation in the IMSA GTO series. It is another car which went to Switzerland in the Eighties after it was retired from full time competition use.  Originally finished in white, in recent times it has been repainted red.  In ’15 it raced in the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or at the Circuit Dijon-Prenois, as seen, right, below.  Its last resale was in ’24, when it made $1,097,513.

As the half century anniversary of the M1/Procar launch approaches, the E26 BMW remains a highly respected car with strong resale values and appreciation for its aesthetic and dynamic characteristics.  Giugiaro’s styling job has been accorded even further favourable recognition with the passing years.  In April ’08 the M1 Hommage designed by Benoit Jacob was unveiled at Villa d’Este, and in its Liquid Orange paint it certainly drew attention.  But however striking this finish appeared, it was not enough to compensate for an overall ‘look’ which was not as successful as that created by Giugiaro.  In particular, Jacob’s interpretation of the traditional kidney grilles element, being decidedly oversized, conferred a clumsy character on the car’s front end.  This was just one aspect which robbed the Hommage of the original M1’s elegance.  But also missing was the portrayal of a machine ready to race – the E26 was both sleek and purposeful, able to be both a ‘looker’ and a racer, perfectly suited to the circuit at Monaco, whereas the Hommage would seem more at home being valet parked at Monte Carlo’s renowned Hotel de Paris.  As to the engine, the ’08 project had at one time included the incorporation of a V10.  This was revised, recalling the situation in the Seventies when the M1 lost its V8 on the drawing board.  But the substitution of a straight six then has not adversely affected the car today – this configuration helps make the M1 a relatively practical ‘supercar’ in ownership/cost terms.  And, as a significant benefit to the marque, the M88 became a very highly rated engine and a key feature of the hugely successful E28 M5 model.  So, the M1 can be appreciated as BMW’s most convincing multi-purpose product: elegant junior supercar/effective racer/halo model/legacy provider/brand icon.

BMW M1 Hommage  ©Motorsport Network

The One and Only - Part 2

 

Nevertheless, the team had not forgotten the vision that informed the earliest days of the project – a car primarily for race participation, fast and nimble enough to compete in Groups 4 and 5 and to score victories over the cars from the Zuffenhausen works of a formidable rival. So some refocus as regards the chassis/body was required. First and foremost, this sought lighter weight and reduced mass. Consequently, Lamborghini was instructed to make the body in GRP and mount it on a tubular spaceframe chassis, allowing the car’s unladen weight to be around 1,300 Kg in road trim and little more than 1,000 Kg as prepared for the track. The new format also embodied reduced dimensions for both the wheelbase and overall length in the interests of better handling characteristics. Recognising the value of drawing on very specific expertise and to achieve best possible speed in the project’s development and subsequent vehicle build process, a supplier nexus was determined – body component panels from the company, Trasformazione Italiana Resina, located 50 km west of Sant’Agata at Reggio Emilia; chassis from Modena-based Marchesi & C.; chassis/body assembly at Italdesign.

Chassis frame made by Machesi.  Courtesy MenudeiMotori

Complying with the updated specification, Lamborghini initially made good progress, producing a prototype in little more than 6 months.  It was shown to the BMW Board in early May ’77 and well received.  The evaluation was enhanced by the availability for viewing of cars considered likely to be ‘the opposition,’ De Tomaso Pantera, Maserati Merak and, inevitably, a turbocharged 911.  Hearing that the BMW people perceived ‘their’ car to be superior to these competitors, the Lamborghini team could be justified in feeling pleased with its efforts.  However, back inside the Sant’Agata factory, the mood was much less upbeat since the company’s financial fitness had been continuing to deteriorate.  Cashflow was especially poor and this militated against steady, revenue earning production.  So, though there was customer demand for the Countach and Jarama models, sales rates were constricted and income lost.  With the receipts from BMW channelled to product development, Rossetti and Leimer sought to boost revenue by contracting to build an off-road vehicle for American maker, Mobility Technology International, which had been commissioned to supply it to the U.S. Military.  From the outset of the project however, there was trouble – named the Cheetah, rights to the design were contested by Ford and this led to a litigation.  Consequently, by the time the vehicle was ready for debut in ’77, Lamborghini’s confidence in the project as a ‘lifesaver’ had already been eroded.  Though no surprise, BMW’s decision to cancel its contract with Lamborghini in April ‘78 for a second time was a further major blow.  Efforts to sell Automobili Lamborghini as a going concern were unsuccessful and by legal compulsion the business was declared bankrupt in August ’78, one month after a prototype M1 had been shown to the press in Munich at the Olympic Park  Also announced at this time, at Hockenheim, was BMW’s intention to institute a ‘Procar’ racing series in ’79.  A follow-up announcement was made in October ’78 outlining plans for the supply of Group 4 specification M1s to private entrants, it having been established that such cars would be allowed to run in German national events.  Preparation of these cars was to be entrusted to Ron Dennis’s junior formulae team, Project Four, and to Osella Engineering, inheritor of the Abarth works operation after the Fiat takeover in ’71.

’78 M1 prototype.  Courtesy Hans Lehmann

At the point of the Lamborghini contract lapse, seven pre-production M1s were under construction. Not enough had yet been learnt with these to enable the formulation of a revised series production plan/timeframe. The project was under huge pressure given the Group 4/5 racing aspirations and related homologation requirements. This would all come to nothing if 400 units could not be manufactured. Thus, the BMW M team needed to, and did, act swiftly and effectively. Firstly, influence was brought to bear such that a number of Lamborghini employees collaborated to found a new business, ItalEngineering. Its purpose was to improve/maintain relationships and working practices between the various specialist businesses already involved in the project. A key executive of ItalEngineering was Marco Raimondi whose primary responsibility was liaison/co-ordination over the wide range of technical aspects.

Left - Marco Raimondi (ItalEngineering) with (right) Dott Franco Baraldini (Lamborghini)

In addition to the design/styling work already undertaken by Italdesign, Giugiaro’s company was delegated to paint/finish the tubular chassis frames. The body panels, glass and interior trim was then assembled on the chassis frame and the completed shell painted. The wiring loom was subsequently fitted prior to the partially complete vehicle passing into the care of Karosserie Baur at Stuttgart. At Baur the remainder of the mechanical, electrical and trim equipment was installed. This stage was found to be problematic as Baur reported that because of dimensional inconsistencies and resultant fit issues, it needed substantially more time than had been agreed in order to complete its work. Thus a further delay occurred and the cost of production was further escalated. However, on completion, the cars were shipped to Munich for testing/final inspection at the factory. Despite the issues at Baur, the race car preparation programme was implemented in time for the ’79 season. But, though it had originally envisaged participation in Group 5, (Special Production cars), BMW feared a lack of competitiveness against other makers now deploying turbocharged cars. Consequently, the M1 became destined to race in the less prestigious Group 4, (Special Grand Touring cars), category.

Body panels being fitted to the chassis frame.  Courtesy 2020 BMW M1 Club e.V.

Its development supervised by Rosche, a /1, Group 4-compliant version of the M88 engine was soon running and proving effective. With a 470 bhp output, it was considerably more powerful than the standard M1 unit. As regards the chassis, suspension, steering and brake components were replaced with race-specification items, while the removal of non-essential items allowed a reduction of the kerb weight down to 1,020 Kg. Wheel widths were increased front and rear, and accommodating arch extensions applied to the bodywork. The aerodynamics were improved by the addition of a large rear wing and front spoiler. By contractual agreement, all the cars were equipped with Goodyear tyres. Eventually, 54 Group 4 M1s were built.

Three months on from the press presentation, a public launch was effected at the Paris Motor Show. Just two months beyond that, in January ’79, the first deliveries were being made to customers. By then the reality of the car’s gestation troubles and the complexity of its revised manufacturing process were reflected in the asking price – around DM 110,000. That made for a car very much more expensive than competing products such as Porsche’s 911 Turbo. Unsurprisingly, customer demand was below expectations and it quickly became necessary to discreetly offer discounts and incentives such as ‘free’ options.

Paris Motor Show, October ’78.  Courtesy Gilbert Uzan

The racing strand of the M1 project continued to progress more positively. A car in race specification emerged in December ’78. During testing, the top speed capability was found to be 193 mph with 0-60 mph achievable in just over 4 seconds. The development work went well enough to allow for a Group 4 race debut in the hands of Marc Surer at the DRM Nürburgring Eifelrennen in late April ’79. Classified 9th overall and first in class in the Rennsport Trophae (Division 1) race, it was a largely successful first showing, though Surer’s progress had been hampered by engine trouble in the latter stages.

Procar chassis# 4301063, winner Nurburgring, April ’79.  Courtesy Wolfgang Clemens

Both road and race versions counted towards the homologation target of 400 units, though, as mentioned above, it had been seen in ‘78 that the quota would not be achievable in time for the ’79 season. Neerpasch had thought around this problem and come up with the idea of a racing format not constricted by the sport’s governing body’s (FIA) regulations. Making use of their existing good rapport from the F3 engine supply programme, Neerpasch engaged Max Mosely’s interest in the creation of a GT series to be run as support races to Formula 1 Grand Prix events. Mosely in turn enlisted Bernie Ecclestone as an advocate, enabling rapid progress on the scheme’s implementation. With support from the F1 constructors, a Procar Association was set up and agreement reached for races to be run at the European Grands Prix. It was envisaged that each race would be contested by 20 cars, 5 to be entered by the BMW factory and the remaining 15 by a variety of teams, including Project Four Racing, Osella, Schnitzer Motorsport, Eggenberger Racing, GS Tuning, Tom Walkinshaw Racing, Team Konrad and Ecurie Arvor. With this number of cars, it was decided to entrust some preparation also to BS Fabrications, a Luton-based business familiar to Ecclestone and through which he promoted Nelson Piquet’s driving career. Sales to the teams were based on the price of a Procar being $60,000.

The competition format encompassed a two day event on the Friday and Saturday of each Grand Prix – practice on the Friday, race on the Saturday. The BMW factory team on each occasion would comprise the 5 drivers fastest in Formula 1 practice and, irrespective of Procar practice times, they would be assigned the first five grid slots. Series points/prize sums were awarded as below:

The series rounds for ’79 were to be held at the following Grands Prix:

The series championship would be taken by the highest points scorer over the 8 rounds, a M1 being their principal reward for the feat, with other BMW models to be gifted to the other five drivers finishing in the first six places in the season-end standings table. 

The teams entering cars in the series were: BMW Motorsport, Project Four Racing, Franz Konrad Racing, Osella Squadra Corse, Schutz Racing, Eggenberger Motorsport, BMW Italia, Alimpo Sport, GS Team, Manfred Cassani, BMW Schweiz, Brun Motorsport, Heidigger Racing Team, Ecurie Automobile Arvor, Memphis Team International, Team Krebs, Team Winkelhock, Toleman Group Motorsport and Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

Over the eight events in the ’79 season, a total of 29 drivers took part – Toine Hezemans did seven, Stuck, Regazzoni and Helmut Kelleners, six, Niki Lauda, five. De Angelis, Fittipaldi. Beltoise, Mass, Konrad, Brun, Reutemann, Cheever, Needell, Jarier, Hotz and ‘Winter’ each did just one. Winners were: Belgium, de Angelis; Monaco, Lauda; France, Piquet; UK, Lauda; Germany, Lauda; Austria, Laffite; Netherlands, Stuck; Italy, Stuck. The top three in the Championship’s closing standings were, 1st Lauda, (78 points); 2nd Stuck (73 points); 3rd Regazzoni (61 points). Both Lauda and Stuck were presented with a M1 road car, Regazzoni and Hottinger with BMW 528s, and Hezemans and Piquet with BMW 323is.

Procar race, Hockenheim, July ’79.  Courtesy 2020 BMW M1 Club e.V

The season had seen some hard racing with consequent spats and shunts, raising the profile and perceived entertainment value of the series.  With some instances of lesser-known drivers, (notably Markus Höttinger, for example) out-performing top line Grand Prix stars, there was speculation that the cars were far from being all of equivalent specification/competitive set-up.  Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before the ‘private’ teams began to complain that the ‘factory’ cars had a power advantage.  In response, a revs limit increase was sanctioned – going from the previously-specified 8,500 to 9,200.  Disquiet rumbled on however, and at the German event it was openly suggested that winner, Lauda’s, car was ‘special,’ in response to which ‘The Rat  said: “Nonsense, after the race at Silverstone my car windows were cleaned and the car was brought to Hockenheim. The cars are all equally fast.  If at all, you can only make a difference with the tyres. Although they are all the same, there are small differences and if you are lucky enough to find a set of tyres that are a bit faster, because they are simply made that way, then you can drive faster.”

Procar race, Zeltweg, August ’79.  Courtesy 2020 BMW M1 Club e.V.

Lauda, Stuck and Regazzoni arrived at the final race, at Monza, all in the running to take the championship.  Stuck, though classified as a ‘private’ driver had proven the series meister, especially in the later races, though Lauda was very nearly as quick and with consistency had racked up points on occasions when Stuck had suffered a DNF.  At Monza, Stuck won with a 20 seconds advantage over Lauda, with the remarkable Höttinger in 3^rd.  It made for a close finish to the championship, but was clear enough given Lauda’s 5 points advantage. 

’79 Procar champion, Niki Lauda with M1, German Grand Prix, ’08.  Courtesy BMW Group

There was an additional Procar race, run at Donington Pak in June, as a part of a meeting commemorating Gunnar Nilsson.  It was won by Nelson Piquet, but no championship points were awarded for this event. 

It was generally agreed that Procar had in ’79 fulfilled BMW’s ambitions and was widely regarded as a properly competitive series, not just a demonstration exercise run for marketing purposes.  In helping to consolidate BMW’s standing as a major player in global motorsport, it provided encouragement to the management in the Four Cylinder Tower to rekindle the company’s F1 aspirations.  Somewhat ironically, as a consequence, BMW itself ceded ‘ownership’ of the Procar series to the Formula One Constructors Association in order to focus effort and resources on a F1 engine programme.  At the same time, it was decided to entrust all the preparation of the ‘works’ M1s (i.e. those allocated to the F1 drivers) to BS Fabrications for the ’80 season.  Also revised for ’80 was the qualifying format by the removal of the privileged pre-determined starting grid positions allocated to the Grand Prix drivers. 

While the primary focus in ’79 was on the Procar series, wider utilisation of the race version M1 evolved with success.  Four years previously, French entrepreneur and amateur racing driver, Hervé Poulain had successfully proposed and implemented the ‘Art Car’ programme, in which contemporary artists were commissioned to apply a ‘livery’ to various BMW models destined to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans events.  The ’75 entry was a BMW 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder and driven by Poulain, Sam Posy and Jean Guichet.  For ’79, an M1 with decoration by Andy Warhol was entered.  Group 4 compliant and in the IMSA GTX .25+ class, it was taken to 6^th overall, 2^nd in class by drivers, Poulain, Marcel Mignot and Manfred Winklelhock.

BMW M1 of Hervé Poulain, Le Mans, ’79.  Courtesy Classic and Vintage BMW

At National level, no M1s were ready to compete in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, (Rennsport Trophäe,  Group 4 Division 1), until the fourth round at Salzburg in May.  In the eight remaining races of the season there were intermittent entries for Stuck, Lauda, Regazzoni, Jochen Mass, Franz Konrad, Wolfgang Schütz, Ralf-Dieter Schreiber, Walter Brun, Markus Höttinger and Lili Reisenbichler.  Class wins were achieved by Stuck (twice), Schütz (twice) and Mass.

BMW M1 of Niki Lauda, Norisring, DRM, June ’79.  Courtesy Harry Maurer

For ’80, a calendar of nine races was announced, including two UK races and three in Germany:

New teams for the season were: BMW Nederland, Schnitzer Motorsport, Sauber Motorsport, Team Merzario, Kannacher GT Racing, Team Austria, Team Lepitre, Ralf-Dieter Schreiber, Racing Team Jurgensen and Peter Oberdorfer.  No less than 40 drivers took part, though 17 entered only a single event. 

These five F1 drivers competed in both Procar seasons; left to right: Laffite, Pironi,, Jones, Piquet, Reutemann.  Courtesy Motorsport.com

The opening race at Donington showed that the revision of the qualifying rules was capable of causing quite a shake up in the relative competitiveness of the F1 drivers, with several strong performances from the ‘private’ drivers contributing to a close fought and incident-packed event won by Jan Lammers.

Winning Procar of Jan Lammers, April ’80, Donington Park.  Courtesy 2020 BMW M1 Club e.V

At the second round, the peculiar nature of the AVUS circuit, with its exceptionally long straights, brought the engine revs limit back under scrutiny. Although a maximum of 8,700 was again recommended in the interests of reliability, there was plenty of enthusiasm for going to 9,000-9,300.  Hans-Geog Bürger’s GS-entered car won the pole with 8,700 set, though other drivers claimed they were not competitive if restricted to less than 9,000.  However, the main talking point at the race’s conclusion was the performance of the Cassani driver, Manfred Schurti who beat Lammers to the win by six seconds.  Schurti was an accomplished driver with the Gelo, Martini and Porsche works teams, though with a less high profile than many of the Procar participants.  At Monaco, Stuck was back to his ’79 late season form, finishing ahead of Kelleners, 2^nd and Piquet, 3^rd.  Stuck won again at the Norisring but was down to 7^th at Brands Hatch, with 5 F1 drivers – including winner, Reutemann – ahead of him.  Didier Pironi found himself under a good deal of criticism in regard to collisions at the Hockenheim event, infuriating Stuck in particular, but emerged as the victor, and appeared not too bothered by the controversies!  However, such an incident-packed race once again proved that Procar was a full-bloodied racing series.  The final three races of the ’80 series – and the last Procar events of all time – were dominated by Nelson Piquet, the man who would win the F1 World Championship the following year, being first across the line in each.  This late run of form served to propel Piquet’s points total to 90, putting him well clear of Jones (77 points) and Stuck (71 points) and thus more than enough to secure his standing as the ’80 Procar champion.  His reward from BMW was a 635CSi,while Jones was presented with a BMW 528i, and Stuck received a BMW 323i. 

Race and Championship winner, Nelson Piquet, Imola September ’80.  Courtesy Getty Images

With the conclusion of the Procar series, the M1’s period as a BMW model was coming to an end.  Production was discontinued in ’80, though the last examples were not delivered to their first owners until into ’81.  453 M1s had been built, (some say 457), of which 54 were to Procar or Group 5 specification.  As regards the Group 5 cars, despite the homologation problem, BMW had been at work since ’78 on a suitable engine for the category.  Announced that year, a twin turbo version of the M88 had been developed and this was utilised from ’81.  Designated 88/2, it had a reduced cubic capacity – down to 3,191 cc – enabling M1s to run in the 4.5 litre (naturally aspirated) class.  Subject to boost pressure, the M88/2 could output almost 1,000 bhp.  The key to unlocking the M1’s entry to Group 5 competition was obtained in December ’80 when the FIA issued homologation papers under reference #670 with acknowledgement of completion of the required 400 units.

Part 3, to follow, covers the Group 5 M1s and a survey of M1s marketed for resale in recent years.