One in every of solely 54 BMW M1 Procars ever constructed will go beneath the hammer throughout Broad Arrow’s Monterey Jet Middle public sale on August 14, 2025. Broad Arrow estimates the automotive will deliver between $1.45 million and $1.85 million. Chassis quantity 94301057 is a uncommon survivor. It has by no means been raced, has remained in authentic, as-delivered situation since new, and nonetheless wears its manufacturing unit paint and inside. For a purpose-built competitors automotive, that degree of preservation is very uncommon.
BMW Motorsport’s First Floor-Up Creation
By the late Nineteen Seventies, BMW Motorsport GmbH — established in 1972 — had already constructed a powerful racing résumé. The light-weight BMW 328 had claimed victory on the 1940 Mille Miglia; the BMW 700RS introduced success within the early Nineteen Sixties; and the BMW 2002 and three.0 CSL “Batmobile” grew to become touring automotive legends. The M1 was totally different. It was the primary automotive solely conceived and engineered by BMW Motorsport, designed to satisfy FIA Group 5 laws and take the struggle to Porsche in worldwide sports activities automotive racing.
Energy got here from the M88/1 3.5-liter DOHC inline-six — a dry-sump, 24-valve engine producing round 470 horsepower in Procar trim and able to revving to 9,000 rpm. Energy was despatched by way of a ZF five-speed handbook gearbox to the rear wheels. Weighing simply over 2,200 kilos, the Procar-spec M1 might attain almost 190 mph. Brakes have been four-wheel ventilated discs, and suspension was by unequal-length wishbones in any respect 4 corners. In comparison with the road-going M1, the Procar model featured wider monitor, aggressive bodywork, built-in air jacks, and racing-specific cooling and exhaust programs.
The Procar Championship
Manufacturing delays — brought about partly by a failed partnership with Lamborghini — compelled BMW to rethink its racing program. Group 5 homologation required 400 examples for Group 4 competitors earlier than additional improvement. This prompted BMW Motorsport boss Jochen Neerpasch to create a brand new racing sequence to showcase the M1: the BMW M1 Procar Championship.
The Procar sequence ran in 1979 and 1980 as a Formulation One help occasion. The format was distinctive: the 5 quickest F1 drivers in Friday qualifying earned seats in factory-entered Procars for the Saturday race, lining up towards privateer groups.
The racing rapidly grew to become a fan favourite. Niki Lauda gained the inaugural 1979 championship, with Nelson Piquet taking the 1980 crown. The grids featured a mixture of F1 stars — together with Alan Jones, Jacques Laffite, Clay Regazzoni, and Hans-Joachim Caught — and seasoned sports activities automotive drivers. The vehicles have been equal, the expertise pool was deep, and the racing was usually nearer than the F1 primary occasion.
You possibly can hear Neerpasch discuss these previous instances in our unique video:
Chassis 94301057: From Vasek Polak to At the moment
Completed by BMW on Might 9, 1979, chassis 94301057 was ready to Procar specification by Osella in Italy. It was delivered to Vasek Polak, a Czech-born racer and famend Porsche vendor based mostly in Hermosa Seaside, California. Polak’s motorsport profession stretched from pre-war bikes to getting ready successful vehicles for Ken Miles, Roger Penske, and Wolfgang von Journeys. His dealership grew to become a serious Porsche racing hub within the U.S., however he was not solely loyal to Stuttgart — and the M1 Procar represented a possibility to compete in a brand new worldwide sequence.
The automotive was shaken down at Riverside Worldwide Raceway for break-in laps and preliminary testing. Nonetheless, FIA rule modifications ended its eligibility earlier than Polak might enter it in competitors. With no instant outlet for the automotive, he positioned it into storage.
In 1989, the M1 was bought to its second proprietor, nonetheless sporting its authentic, unliveried white paint. The mechanical specification remained untouched: the three.5-liter M88/1 engine, tubular chassis, fiberglass physique panels, and manufacturing unit racing tools have been all intact. The present proprietor acquired the automotive in 2021 and commissioned a service at The Werkshop in 2022. Since then, it has seen solely mild train at personal monitor days.
Why This Instance Stands Out
Out of the 54 Procars constructed, many have been raced laborious, crashed, rebuilt, or modified through the years. Only a few retain their authentic bodywork, paint, and inside — and even fewer have prevented aggressive use solely. Chassis 94301057 is basically a brand new Procar from 1979. It stays an genuine illustration of how these vehicles left BMW Motorsport’s workshop, proper right down to its period-correct mechanical elements.
For collectors, this degree of originality affords a number of alternatives: concours-level preservation, museum show, or sympathetic preparation for classic racing occasions. Given the Procar’s standing as one in every of BMW’s most recognizable racing vehicles — and the one one-make sequence ever to persistently characteristic the highest F1 drivers of its period — its significance is properly established.
Public sale Particulars:
- Lot: 276
- Date: Thursday, 14 August 2025
- Location: Monterey Jet Middle, Monterey, California
- Estimate: $1,450,000 – $1,850,000
[Source: Broad and Arrow Auctions]
