One to Buy: the ex-Ron Dennis oldest surviving 1978 BMW E26 M1 Prototype (SOLD)
In addition to Lamborghini which played a major role in developing the M1 on BMW’s behalf, B&S Fabrications, Project Four Racing and Osella assisted with production of the Procar variant in anticipation of the inaugural 1979 championship.
Marlboro-backed Project Four was founded by Ron Dennis in 1976 following a stint working for Brabham as a mechanic. The team ran its own Procar in the 1979 series for Niki Lauda who won three of the eight races and emerged as that year’s champion with 78 points compared to 73 for two-time winner and runner-up, Hans-Joachim Stuck.
In late 1980, Project Four merged with McLaren which Dennis transformed into the most successful F1 constructor of the 1980s.
Around the time of the Project Four–McLaren merger, Dennis was at BMW Motorsport when he came across a pair of M1 prototypes languishing in a corner. Having expressed an interest in building one up into his personal road car, chassis XP2 was gifted to the McLaren boss.
As XP1 had been destroyed in a crash test in order to gain type approval, XP2 was actually the oldest M1 in existence. Upon delivery to England, XP2 was rebuilt by Project Four from the ground up. As part of the rebuild, the colour was changed from white to dark blue and a high end roof-mounted audio system was installed.
Ron Dennis used XP2 for around 3000 miles, after which it passed to his wife-to-be and later on his son. Currently being offered by The Octane Collection in Horsham, XP2 is today is offered in superb condition throughout having covered a little over 92,000km.
Reprinted below is The Octane Collection’s description for this most significant E26 M1:
Mileage: 92,098km
Year: 1978
Price: POA
MODEL HISTORY
The BMW M1 (model code E26) is a mid-engined sports car that was hand-built between 1978 and 1981 under the motorsport division of BMW, as a homologation special for sports car racing. Only 453 production cars were built, making it one of BMW’s rarest models. Out of the 453, 399 were road going units while 53 were made for motorsport.
In order to compete with arch rival Porsche in Group 5 racing the motorsport division of BMW, headed by Jochen Neerpasch, had been wanting to develop a car for competition racing. Thus, the development of the M1 was initiated. Neerpasch, who was head of the development program, stressed that the car was to be strictly mid-engine in order to outclass its competitors. The homologation rules stipulated 400 road-going examples of the race car had to be produced which BMW weren’t able to do in the set time frame.
As such the company partnered with Lamborghini to work out the details of the car’s chassis, assemble prototypes and manufacture the vehicles. However soon after, Lamborghini’s financial position and the possibility of the car’s production by the Italian manufacturer became bleak, and BMW re-assumed control over the project in April 1978. The delay in production and the changes in Group 5 rules forced the company to compete in Group 4 racing instead.
The BMW M1 is the first car to be solely developed by BMW M and employs a 3,453 cc (3.5 L) M88/1 petrol six-cylinder engine with Kugelfischer-Bosch mechanical fuel injection and Magneti-Marelli ignition system. The engine was developed by Paul Rosche, who was also responsible for the S14 inline-4 engine and the S70/2 V12 engine. The engine was a direct decedent of a pure race engine – the M49/2, made for Group 5 and IMSA racing and fitted it to the 3.5 CSL race car, which Peter Gregg and Brian Redman drove to victory in the 1976 24 Hours of Daytona, BMW’s first major victory on American soil.
In order to build enough cars to enter the Group 4 classification in the World Championship for manufacturers, Jochen Neerpasch had to work hard to devise a one-make championship to keep his mid engine sports car project alive. The new series, known as the “Procar BMW M1 Championship”, served as a support series for Formula One, and included many Formula One drivers in identical cars with 1979 being the inaugural season.
All cars used in the Procar Championship were built to identical standards, although their origins varied. BS Fabrications constructed five cars for the BMW factory team, while cars for other competitors were constructed by the British Formula Two team Project Four Racing (led by Ron Dennis) and the Italian constructor Osella.
Project Four Racing was founded in 1976 by former Brabham mechanic Ron Dennis with backing from headline and iconic motorsport sponsor Marlboro, and it was this combination along with Niki Lauda as a driver that led to them winning the inaugural 1979 M1 Procar season. It is said that Project Four racing ended up building all but one of the independent M1s as Osella struggled to deliver in the tight timescale.
At the end of 1980, the team merged with the McLaren Formula One team and went on to F1 fame and success; however the team name lived on in the designation of the McLaren F1 race cars from 1981 to the 2016 season, all McLarens, starting with the John Barnard designed McLaren MP4/1, had carried the “MP4” name, with MP4 standing for “Marlboro Project 4” and later “McLaren Project 4”.
Incidentally, when Project Four had first won the contract to build the Procar batch in 1979, John Barnard had just joined the team and both him and Ron Dennis were fascinated by the M1’s rear wing, which was moulded with ultra-light, ultra-stiff carbon composite skins over a foam core. John Barnard took note of this promising new material, and that seed contributed to the production of the first moulded carbon-composite Formula 1 chassis in the 1980 McLaren MP4/1.
EQUIPMENT
3.5 Straight Six, 5 Speed Dogleg Gearbox, Dark Blue Exterior, Air-conditioning, Electric Windows, Electric Wing Mirrors, Adjustable Seats, Campagnolo 16″ Wheels, Vented Brake Disc’s, Ceiling Mounted Hi-Spec period Aftermarket Radio And Cassette With Upgraded Pioneer Speakers.
EXTERIOR
Resplendent in Dark blue this M1 does not disappoint. Every bit the homologation race car the lines are low, sleek and designed for purpose. With its small BMW kidney grille the wedge shape is iconic and instantly recognisable to its race car sibling and the multitude of images and videos from the Procar series. The shape of which was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo concept car and made entirely of fiberglass over a tubular steel frame chassis.
Having lived two lives first finished in White as BMWs test car it was rebuilt in 1980 by Project Four racing on its new owners request and finished in Dark blue. Given Project Four was building the Procars at the time it seemed only suitable that Chassis no.2 was given any necessary performance upgrades. Cosmetically in this case chassis no.2 is unique in the fact it had grooved Procar front wings, these grooves are subtle but introduced to the upper surface of the wing so the gel coat does not extend beyond the line allowing for easy replacement or repair. A lovely nod to the race cars and a step closer to Niki Lauda’s championship winning car sporting the same front wings than any other M1 road car produced.
Black details compliment the dark colour coding, with wing mirrors, front grilles, window surrounds and front and rear splitters all coloured as such, this era saw the end of chrome used on cars with new lightweight tech plastics. A black coach line runs around the exterior with lower sills and some large cooling vents on the rear clam-shell finishing off what is an incredible silhouette.
INTERIOR
Fitted with a half-leather and half-cloth interior its motorsport roots meant that the car had a basic interior layout with many parts sourced from other BMW models. It was no doubt a rush for BMW to get these homologated in time but given its initial race car application the basic interior adds to its appeal and is more than comfortable. Only built in LHD amenities such as air conditioning, power windows, electric wing mirrors and a radio came as standard and made it a comfortable place to be.
Like the exterior this car features unique improvements and with Project Four recommissioning it for its Team boss, it was important that luxury, fit and finish here were not rushed.
A unique feature is the ceiling-mounted car compo cockpit Hi-fi stereo that Ron Dennis had acquired after a trip to Japan, beautifully fitted it looks as if it was a BMW option and the unit itself at the very peak echelons of digital performance of the day. Upgraded pioneer speakers were naturally added to enhance the sound quality and have been custom fitted with precision into the doors.
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION
When Dennis took ownership of the car it had no engine nor gearbox. Thankfully he wasn’t out of favours at BMW and in fact it was the hard work of Project Four racing that helped BMW launch the Procar series in time and with enough cars alongside winning the inaugural season. It was chief engineer and engine designer extraordinaire Paul Rosche who helped source and provided a suitable 3.5 M1 engine together with a matching dogleg 5 speed gearbox as standard.
It was then left to Project four racing and headed by crew foreman Peter Hennessy who took the whole project under his wing and assembled it with painstaking care and to the best of the teams exacting standards.
On going maintenance was carried out by the race team to ensure the car was mechanically in perfect order alongside long periods of storage in the Dennis family, more recently it was subject to a refresh in March 2021 to ensure the car remained fully roadworthy with new tyres, mechanical work and a fresh MOT before going back into storage. The car has only covered approximately 3k kilometers since its build in 1980.
WHEELS, TYRES & BRAKES
The iconic, specially made 16″ wheels by Campagnolo are in the good condition and carry the BMW Motorsport centre caps, wrapped in Pirelli P7 Cinturatos showing ample tread and date stamped 2019.
Brakes are four wheel vented disc’s and in excellent condition. ABS was not offered as an option.
HISTORY FILE
Just three prototype chassis’ were built for pre-production testing, chassis No.1 was unfortunately scrapped after it had been crashed by Manfred Winklehock in testing, leaving this car (chassis No.2) the oldest surviving BMW M1 in existence.
It was during 1980 that Ron Dennis of Project Four Racing was visiting BMW Motorsport in Munich when he noticed the remaining pair of sadly discarded prototype M1 Coupes gathering dust in the works. He asked what was going to happen to them and was told that since they were then surplus to requirements they would be broken up. In book-keeping terms the factory had a problem selling them since they had all been costed into the M1 R&D programme and after showing interest in owning one to build back up to a personal road car BMW made arrangements as he recalls gifted to him.
The car came to Dennis with its original factory colour of Off-white however he chose to have the car painted in an attractive shade of dark blue whilst the car was being stripped and rebuilt from the ground up. As Dennis had built all but one of the M1 Pro cars with his Project Four Racing team, the team had vast amounts of spare parts in the Woking workshop and his build crew foreman Peter Hennessy really took the prototype car under his wing to reassemble with painstaking care to best of the teams standards.
On completion of the ground up restoration it was road registered with the number plate ‘OPL 305W’ on June 12th 1981 and enjoyed by Dennis for many years while covering approximately 3k kilometers in his care, in his words ‘It proved to be a really nice road car, fast but civilised, sophisticated and comfortable’. Gifted to his partner (later his wife) who was also very fond of the car, it was then subsequently gifted to Dennis’ son who has owned the car since.
Paperwork present tracks family ownership over the four decades, it is the first time it has been offered to the market outside the Dennis family. A signed letter from Mr Ron Dennis confirms its provenance and incredible history.
Not only is this BMW the oldest remaining M1 chassis and prototype XP2 car, a provenance in itself, but further built and owned by Project Four team owner and boss, tasked with building, running and winning in the M1 Procars in period. This combination of talent, engineering, technology, sponsorship partnership and timing resulted in a chain of events that was the catalyst, the spark, that led to the McLaren story and success under Ron Dennis leadership.
