Dubbed 1 Series M, the car was a back-to-basics homage to high-performance BMWs of the 1960s and 1970s. Powered by a twin-turbo 2,979 cc straight-six developing 335 horsepower, Munich’s street racer drew heavily from the M3: the lightweight suspension and massive brakes coming from the larger car. Although far from old fashioned, the BMW was the antithesis to two-seater, mid-engined rivals such as the Porsche Cayman R and Lotus Evora S. A front-engined, four-seater with a manual gearbox, limited-slip differential, and immense reserves of torque—500 Nm was available on overboost—it was all about lurid thrills.

Capable of 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, the 1M was electronically limited to a 250 km/h maximum. As befitting a machine of such brutal intent, the body was reconfigured with flared arches pulled tautly over the 19-inch wheels. Combined with a redesigned nose and tail, the aesthetic was a wildly aggressive pitlane fantasy. On Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson summed up the 1M as ‘a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant car’, while Autocar magazine described the engine as ‘one of the best turbo installations we know’, adding that ‘throttle response is sensational’. As is so often the case with such gems, however, the 1M was a limited-production model. In total, only 6,309 were sold worldwide, meaning the BMW was assured classic status from the outset.

Finished in Black Sapphire with Boston leather and contrasting Kyalami Orange stitching, this 1M was delivered to its first lucky custodian near La Rochelle on 20 December 2011. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they retained this extraordinary machine for no less than a decade. Exercised regularly but not excessively, the BMW had covered only 31,200 kilometres when it passed to a French collector in early 2021. In order to meet the new owner’s standards, Charles Pozzi of Paris fulfilled the sale and were subsequently entrusted to partially repaint the body at that time. The wheels were also refinished and the car serviced. Since then, the BMW has been carefully preserved, and at the time of cataloguing was displaying a mere 31,478 kilometres on its odometer. A superb opportunity for discerning BMW enthusiasts.