A new BMW M1 was 95 percent complete and almost ready for the assembly line when plans were scrapped, reveals Steve Saxty, who specializes in the brand's history.
It's no secret that BMW's basement is filled with prototypes that never came to fruition. And somewhere underground – probably in Munich – sits a brand new BMW M1.
It's 95 percent complete. But it never was and probably never will be. A successor to the Germans' first and so far only supercar was dropped at the last minute.
This is revealed by author Steve Saxty, who specializes in BMW history. The car is based on the BMW Vision M Next concept with the factory code i16.
– BMW had everything ready. Also much more than that under the shell of the concept car. That car was 95 percent finished, says the author .
The Germans' plan was for a car with four cylinders and a plug-in hybrid with a battery pack. The i16 reportedly has around 600 horsepower and can go from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds. However, BMW made sure to limit the top speed to 300 km/h.
Work continued during the coronavirus pandemic, and the car was supposed to be unveiled to the public sometime in the summer of 2022. But ultimately, BMW management shifted gears and gave the green light to another project after a secret deal with Citroën. Read more about it here .
However, the employees haven't forgotten the story of the original BMW M1 or a potential successor. In fact, someone at the brand is working on a new M1 every single day.
"Every single day, someone at BMW is designing a new M1," says Saxty.
