Club Review of the Carrera DIGITAL 124 BMW M1 Procar "Regazzoni No.28", 1979" by CoMod Lotus!
Item No.: 20023820 Shopping Link
: The http://bit.ly/1PgQkKN
BMW M1 is a car that divides opinion: either you like its wedge shape, or you don't. The M1 is one of the last designs in a long lineage of vehicles by the three “wedge designers”—Giuseppe “Nuccio” Bertone, Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Marcello Gandini.
I know a few people who have a special connection to this car; CoMod Mike, for example, told us many years ago that in his youth he often passed by the Karosserie Baur factory, where the car was built. He’s been a fan of the car ever since.
I, too, have been fascinated by the first true race car from Munich-based M GmbH ever since my youth. For over 15 years, I had an original factory poster of the BMW super sports car hanging on the wall in my office; that 277-Ps sports car is one of my absolute dream cars.
About 5 or 6 years ago, there was a production M1 on display in the sales hall at Technorama in Ulm; 75.000 €. unfortunately, the price back then was . way out of my league, though it would have been a good buy—today, you can’t 150.000 € find an M1 anywhere anymore 750.000 € .
Carrera
. The Procar versions, which are very rarely offered, start at
.
Many
club members have been asking for the car to be added to the 124 lineup, and we CoMods have also been suggesting the M1 for many years.
Our best argument was actually the very reason that would turn out to be the BMW M1’s biggest shortcoming in reality: Since the race cars originally planned for Group 4 could no longer be used due to rule changes shortly before their debut, BMW launched the Procar series as a support series for Formula 1. Here, the five fastest Formula 1 drivers competed in factory-spec BMW M1s against a maximum of 19 sports car and privateer drivers driving this same model. So the M1 essentially had its own racing series—complete with a wide variety of liveries, sponsors, and so on. In other words, it was every racetrack manufacturer’s dream. ;-)
Naturally, the excitement was all the greater when the BMW M1 Procar was announced for the 2015 program.
So here it is, the No. 28 factory race car right in front of me. Driver: Clay Regazzoni, a Formula 1 driver for Ferrari and Niki Lauda’s legendary teammate. By the way, he drove for Williams in 1979. The BMW factory livery is well known: a white base color with horizontal stripes in light blue, dark blue, and red.
The proportions of the body are well rendered, and the paint scheme matches the real thing. Even the driver’s seating position looks very good—no easy feat with such a low-slung body. When I first held the car in my hands, my first thought was: “This thing needs a long track; on the classic home circuit, it’ll probably be underchallenged.” So I was all the more surprised by its handling! It was clear to me that a car with such a low center of gravity and such a wide chassis would handle well in the turns. But I hadn’t expected the speedy Türkeil to accelerate so well from a standstill despite its long gear ratio. It might also be due to its weight of just 212 g. The rubber compound of the tires is very soft, which further contributes to the car’s excellent handling.
Bottom line: a car that's really fun to drive and is sure to find its way onto the club members' tracks!
Best regards,
CoMod Lotus
Item No.: 20023820 Shopping Link
: The http://bit.ly/1PgQkKN
BMW M1 is a car that divides opinion: either you like its wedge shape, or you don't. The M1 is one of the last designs in a long lineage of vehicles by the three “wedge designers”—Giuseppe “Nuccio” Bertone, Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Marcello Gandini.
I know a few people who have a special connection to this car; CoMod Mike, for example, told us many years ago that in his youth he often passed by the Karosserie Baur factory, where the car was built. He’s been a fan of the car ever since.
I, too, have been fascinated by the first true race car from Munich-based M GmbH ever since my youth. For over 15 years, I had an original factory poster of the BMW super sports car hanging on the wall in my office; that 277-Ps sports car is one of my absolute dream cars.
About 5 or 6 years ago, there was a production M1 on display in the sales hall at Technorama in Ulm; 75.000 €. unfortunately, the price back then was . way out of my league, though it would have been a good buy—today, you can’t 150.000 € find an M1 anywhere anymore 750.000 € .
Our best argument was actually the very reason that would turn out to be the BMW M1’s biggest shortcoming in reality: Since the race cars originally planned for Group 4 could no longer be used due to rule changes shortly before their debut, BMW launched the Procar series as a support series for Formula 1. Here, the five fastest Formula 1 drivers competed in factory-spec BMW M1s against a maximum of 19 sports car and privateer drivers driving this same model. So the M1 essentially had its own racing series—complete with a wide variety of liveries, sponsors, and so on. In other words, it was every racetrack manufacturer’s dream. ;-)
Naturally, the excitement was all the greater when the BMW M1 Procar was announced for the 2015 program.
So here it is, the No. 28 factory race car right in front of me. Driver: Clay Regazzoni, a Formula 1 driver for Ferrari and Niki Lauda’s legendary teammate. By the way, he drove for Williams in 1979. The BMW factory livery is well known: a white base color with horizontal stripes in light blue, dark blue, and red.
The proportions of the body are well rendered, and the paint scheme matches the real thing. Even the driver’s seating position looks very good—no easy feat with such a low-slung body. When I first held the car in my hands, my first thought was: “This thing needs a long track; on the classic home circuit, it’ll probably be underchallenged.” So I was all the more surprised by its handling! It was clear to me that a car with such a low center of gravity and such a wide chassis would handle well in the turns. But I hadn’t expected the speedy Türkeil to accelerate so well from a standstill despite its long gear ratio. It might also be due to its weight of just 212 g. The rubber compound of the tires is very soft, which further contributes to the car’s excellent handling.
Bottom line: a car that's really fun to drive and is sure to find its way onto the club members' tracks!
Best regards,
CoMod Lotus
