A rare BMW M1 Procar built for the BMW M1 Procar Championship will be on track at the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
The BMW M1 Procar reached cult status through the BMW M1 Procar Championship that ran over the course of 1979 and 1980 as a support series to Formula 1, featuring grand prix, sportscar and touring car drivers racing the identical sportscars. Drivers who raced in the championship included Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones, Mario Andretti and more.
The car heading to the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival was built for the BMW M1 Procar Championship in May 1979 by Ron Dennis’ Project 4 team, with Dennis and Project 4 going on to partner with McLaren and win multiple Formula 1 championships.
With the BMW M1 Procar discontinued in 1981, after BMW pulled its funding to focus on its Formula 1 engine program, there were just 54 competition versions of the car built for the BMW M1 Procar Championship. After racing in Japan and the World Endurance Championship, the Adelaide-bound BMW M1 Procar now belongs to Bowden's Own car collection.
The BMW M1 Procar is powered by a M88 3.5-litre inline six-cylinder engine, producing 450BHP and 9200RPM and its presented in its livery as raced in Japan, a striking silver base with BMW Motorsport tri-colours running up the bonnet and over the roof.
It will be part of the Invitational category alongside a Leyton House Porsche 962C sportscar, rally greats such as the Lancia 037, Lancia Integrale EVO, Renault Group B R5 Turbo and Fiat 131 Abarth, a McLaren M8 CanAm and more cars still to be confirmed.
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