Recently offered for sale in the States is one of the rarest and most sought after production BMWs, the iconic M1. Only 451 examples of this mid-engined sports coupe were built between 1978 and 1981. This particular example is a 1980 model with only 26,999 miles on the odometer and is being offered for sale for $250,000 ($340,000 NZ) by a dealer located in Scotts Valley, California.
Representing the first and only mid-engined production BMW built to date the M1 was developed in partnership with Lamborghini and styled by famous designer Giorgetto Guigiaro. It was powered by a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre straight-six delivering 277-horspower mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, and it could reach a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph).
When it went on sale in Germany in 1978, the BMW M1 was priced at around 100,000 DM (approx. NZ$61,300).
In April 2008, BMW marked the M1′s 30th anniversary by introducing the supercar’s modern-day successor with the Homage Concept. Sadly BMW won’t be putting the Homage Concept into production.
Check out images of the BMW M1 for sale in the gallery below.
