- The head of BMW M and its design chief both want a new supercar.
- It would likely need unlimited funding and board approval to happen.
- A modern M1 could finally become BMW M’s long-missing flagship.
For years, BMW fans have asked whether the company would ever return to the supercar segment with a proper flagship, something in the spirit of the original M1. After all, the competition hasn’t been shy. Audi built the R8 across two generations and recently brought the idea back with the limited-run Nuvolari, while Mercedes gave us the gullwinged SLS AMG and now sells the AMG GT. BMW has watched all of it happen and stayed on the sidelines
Ask BMW M boss Frank van Meel what he would build with an open checkbook, though, and the answer comes without hesitation. He wants a modern M1. He said as much during the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans, the same weekend BMW pulled the covers off the M Concept Neue Klasse and gave everyone their first real look at the all-electric M3 that is just around the corner.
Read: BMW’s Electric M3 Concept Stands Next To The E30 And Hopes You Approve
During the event, van Meel and BMW M design boss Oliver Heilmer spoke at length about the importance of the new electric concept and how the company has worked to make the car thrilling to drive, and therefore worthy of the M badge. BMW Blog then asked both men what their dream M car would be if money were no object and if the board would approve it on the spot. They gave the same answer.
“M1,” Heilmer simply responded, followed by van Meel, who provided exactly the same answer, noting that while he loves the original M1, he “would love to do a new one.”
Getting there is the hard part. A new M1 would have to honor a nameplate that carries decades of mythology, and it would have to find enough buyers to justify its existence, which is a taller order than the romance of the idea suggests.
BMW also doesn’t have the advantage of belonging to a larger automotive group, the way Audi sits within the VW empire, meaning it would have to develop the car entirely in-house, using either an all-new powertrain or one borrowed from an existing model. A big reason Audi managed to launch the Nuvolari is that it shares its technical underpinnings with the Lamborghini Temerario, cutting development costs instead of engineering a fresh engine and hybrid setup from scratch.
