Canepa has just finished work restoring an absolutely stunning 1979 BMW M1 Procar, one of just 40 ever produced.
This particular M1 Procar, number 31, served as a spare car during the BMW M1 Procar Championship. However, it never hit a racetrack and the company decided to instead remove numerous Procar parts and turn it into a road-legal car, making it the only one of its kind.
It was originally sold to a German customer in November 1979 and four years later, was then purchased by an American collector. In March 1984, it arrived in the United States from Munich, was modified for DOT compliance, received an EPA release letter and was allowed to hit the streets the following year.
After being driven and displayed at numerous events right up through to the late 1990’s, the supercar was put away to hibernate, where it slept until October 2012. Not long after, Canepa began restoring the car to its original state.
It was completely disassembled and the selection of parts BMW installed it with to make it street-legal were replaced by OEM Procar parts which would have adorned the M1 when it was first built. These included the iconic Procar bodykit and rear wing as well as BBS center lock wheels, suspension uprights, hubs, control arms, tie rods, axles and mirrors.
As Canepa couldn’t source any original Procar brakes, it fitted Brembo calipers from the Porsche 962 and discs from the Porsche 935. Elsewhere, the engine was rebuilt and outfitted with Motec electronic fuel injection, resulting in a total of 414 hp and 357 lb-ft of torque. Coupled to the engine is a rebuilt 5-speed ZF manual transmission.
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