Yahoo Autos This Restored 1979 BMW M1 Procar Is Achingly, Painfully Wonderful
The Giugiaro-designed M1 is one of the rarest BMWs ever produced, and the rarest of them all are the BMW M1 Procars. Raced for only two seasons in the one-make M1 Procar Championship, only 40 of these cars were ever produced. This particular car, number 31, was never raced. Eventually, it was sold off and made street legal in 1984. Now, more than 30 years later, it's been meticulously restored by the team at Canepa Design.
Considering that it only has 12 miles on the odometer, it was already as close to brand new as a car from 1979 can be. In 2012, though, Canepa began working to give it a ground-up restoration. But it was only after the car had been completely disassembled that the team realized it had originally been a Procar. That's when they decided to build it back into a street-legal race car.
To ensure accuracy, Canepa says they brought in another Procar to study and photograph. They then began adding back original parts. Currently, the car has Procar "suspension uprights, hubs, control arms, tie rods, axles, mirrors, and that amazing Procar body kit and rear wing." One part they couldn't source were the original brake calipers, so it now wears Brembos.
The engine was then sent to VAC Motorsports for a full rebuild. While there, it was modified to use period electronic fuel injection. As a result, it now makes 414 horsepower and 357 lb.-ft. of torque. The five-speed manual was also rebuilt, along with the gauges. The interior was then entirely redone.
With that much attention to detail, it's not surprising that this car looks pretty much perfect. Unfortunately, if you were interested in adding it to your collection, it appears the car has already sold. Still, at least we can appreciate its beauty in these photos.
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