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Valuable steel: the £500,000 BMW M1

6 November, 2016

Have you ever wondered why the 2009 BMW 1M was never called the M1, like every other M-series car that the automaker has ever produced? It’s because of this car — the incredibly rare BMW M1.

In the ’70s BMW wanted to enter into GT Racing (what would later become the Procar Series), and the German-designed horses were to be built under an agreement with Italian manufacturer Lamborghini. However, conflicts arose between the companies, which prompted BMW to produce the car themselves in-house.

With a production run of a mere 457 units, only 399 sold as road cars from 1978 to 1981, while the rest were used for racing purposes — the car also claims the title of BMW’s first mid-engined model to be mass-produced, and now commands a price tag of £500,000 or more for what little of them remain today.

But that’s enough ramblings from us, watch, and more importantly listen to the beautiful sounds of the BMW M1 as driven by James from the YouTube channel MR JWW.

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

22 May, 2025

Following the third polite advisory, I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, central America, Colombia, and central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey my total air miles would be little different.

Pinnacle Porsche

15 May, 2025

We were stopped at the side of the road, setting up the next photograph, when a faded Toyota slowed alongside and stopped. The window was already down to give the driver a good look.
“That’s my dream car,” he said, speaking for more than a few of us.
He drank in the gleaming red paint, shining in the sun, and the car’s purposeful swoops and curves. He exhaled half a lungful of cigarette smoke, gave a hang 10–style thumbs up and drove off.
On the side of the road, against a clear blue background, the Porsche stood out in all its stark red glory. It’s the classic 911 shape on steroids. It has the fat, even pouty, front lip of the G series 911s, added to comply with 5mph bumper restrictions in the US. It also has the oversized haunches to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tyres – a first for Porsche, which also confirmed its supercar credentials – and, most noticeably of all, that enormous whale-tail spoiler. They made it look as if Porsche had abandoned its restraint.