BMW M1 Procars showcased at the 77th Member’s Meeting

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 30.11.2018

BMW’s greatest racers set to tear up Goodwood

BMW M1 Procars showcased at the 77th Member’s Meeting

There’s little that’s better than the sound of a fleet of straight-six race motors singing their best song up to 9000rpm.

But those are the sounds behind the announcement of the first demonstration at the 77^th Member’s Meeting at Goodwood in April next year.

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Celebrating 40 years since the BMW M1 F1-support category was established, the great 80s silhouettes of BMW’s low-slung supercar will once again turn their wheels in anger.

The one-make racing series only ran from 1979 to 1980, and saw the greatest drivers on the F1 grid take part in support racing, all behind the wheel of the BMW M1 Procar coupes.

Then-BMW Motorsport boss Jochen Neerpasch needed to build 400 cars in order for Group 4 homologation. Bernie Ecclestone agreed to host the races on Grand Prix weekends, with huge cash prizes bringing in all of the top drivers at the time.

Winner of both the 1979 and 1980 Procar Privateer classes, former F1 driver Hans Stuck, said: "The Procar race was usually better than the Grand Prix itself. I loved racing those cars, it was the best thing ever, incredibly competitive and those straight-sixe engines made a wonderful noise".

"It was wild" said Stuck. "And there were bonus points if you didn’t damage the car. Close racing, good money, great entertainment for the fans. A shame this thing of thing doesn’t happen anymore".

The M1s were powered by BMW’s M88 3.5lt straight-six, with most of the Procars built by Ron Dennis and his Project 4 Formula 2 team.

These glorious BMW’s reflect the height of 80s Silhouette racing. Rarely seen since they raced nearly 40 years ago, the M1 Procar showcase will be one of the main attractions at the 77^th Member’s Meeting, April 2019.

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