Few people have seen a BMW M1 (E26) in real life, but it’s that kind of car that even if you haven’t seen yourself, you need to be aware of and acknowledge its significance and the fact that it has an intoxicating straight-six noise that would make the new speaker-augmented M3/M4 blush in shame.
The M1 is BMW’s idea of a mid-engined (Italian) supercar, one that it put into practice between 1978 and 1981 in which time 456 of them were made.
It was originally intended as a series production run for racing homologation, but Lamborghini was not able to manufacture the cars quickly enough, and as it was being made the rules were changed and BMW was ultimately forced to create its own single-model racing series for its M1.
If you’re wondering who drives and cares for these cars nowadays, Petrolicious tracked down owner and enthusiast Mike Ura and let him explain the attraction.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO