Yes we're talking cars.
Why?
Because I want to.
BMW. Know em? I generally think that Beemers are for tossers. There's nothing inheritably wrong with them. In fact they're fantastic machines. They're generally reliable and they have that sleek German efficiency about them. Sure, a few years ago they churned out a few dogs style-wise, but now they're back on track producing some truly fantastic-looking machines.
So why do I think they're for tossers? Because they're the only people who can afford them. And therein lies the problem. All the best cars, the coolest cars, the most powerful cars, usually have someone who you'd rather not talk to for very long behind the wheel. They're the sort of person who always has one of those blu-tooth mobile phone headsets glued to their ears, as if every call is of such importance and urgency that it must be answered right away. They're the sort of person who picks on the most uninteresting topic of conversation imaginable - usually involving themselves - and proceeds to crush you with a torrent of sheer boringness until you can take it no longer and find an excuse to leave. Basically, they're the sort of person you'd only spend time with if they had a nice car.
It's ok for the likes of Ferrari and the other Italian supercar makers. They have that exotic excitement about them that makes them desirable to the common man. Beemer, on the other hand, are too... common. Too run-of-the mill to be an object of desire. It's a shame, really. For years BMW's M series has been the pinnacle of performance and engineering, but no child has a poster of an M5 on their bedroom wall - that's reserved for the Italians. BMW has always stood on the sideline, a rich man's car, but not a rich man's dream car.
Ok, BMW make solid, reliable and boring cars. So what? They always have, right?
Not true.
Tonight I want to show you something, the BMW that dared to be different, a Beemer I'm confident would look right at home on a ten year old's bedroom wall between the Enzo and the Countach. It looks modern, but it came out in 1978. It started the M series of BMWs that performance nuts have grown to love. The BMW M1.
It reminds me of a DeLorean, but unlike its Irish-American competitor the M1 doesn't fall apart when you power it up. Just look at it, sleek supercar lines meld with the traditional BMW split-nose grill to make something both familiar and unique at the same time. The colour of this one is terrible, but if you see a deep-black M1 driving down the main street, you'll be craning your neck until it's out of sight. It was a combination of the best of both worlds, designed by an Italian, engineered by a German.
The car was never hugely successful commercially, and that's probably why it's never been regarded as a classic car in the same way the Ferraris and Lamborghini of the time were. It did however lead BMW down the path of factory-tuned performance cars. The M1 was soon followed by the M3 in 1986 and the M-series as we know it was born.
Anyway, I've raised the M1 from the ashes for a reason! It seems BMW have been bitten by the supercar bug once again, perhaps they were inspired by Audi's fantastic R8, or perhaps they were sick of being the car company for tossers. Either way they've produced a new concept. Sure, it's a computer generated image, but here's to the million-to-one chance that Beemer will believe it's economically viable.
I love that nose. It's got the same sleek styling as the M1, but with a much more aggressive bias. The hooded headlamps and the dark, stretched V-shape grill really give the car a sinister look. Like it could swallow you whole and spit you out the other end in a mangled heap.
And the back:
The aggressive styling continues around the back. Look at those tail-lights! It's like looking into the face of an angry hawk!
Ok, I admit, it looks a bit outlandish, but this is a concept mock-up. Remember the original R8 concept pictures? Expect that garish bonnet-bulge to shrink or disappear, change the colour to black and you have yourself a supercar. It's the M1 on steroids, and BMW should build it. Build it now.
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