Development
When the BMW M1 came onto the market in 1979, its original price was a whopping 113,000 German Marks. In Switzerland, a little over 100,000 francs were due, a good three times as much as for the then top model from BMW, the 733i. A Porsche 911 Turbo cost 80,100 francs at the time, a Maserati Khamsin 68,800 francs, a Lamborghini Countach 139,000 francs, a Ferrari 512 BB 89,400 francs. And a DeTomaso Pantera for a modest 48,500 francs. Incidentally, the most expensive series-produced car that year was the Rolls-Royce Camargue, which cost a whopping 230,500 francs.
The price was certainly one reason why BMW barely sold the M1 in those years. It is known that in the early 80s, the sports car had to be sold with sometimes hefty discounts – and that used M1s were also available for less than 50k in the 90s. In the noughties, prices then stabilised in the low six figures. It was only in the mid-teens that more than half a million dollars was paid for the first time, with Procars sometimes coming close to a million. In 2024, RM Sotheby’s sold one M1 for 342,500 euros and another for 742,000 dollars. As so often, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. And yet, from a long-term perspective, we consider the prices to be absolutely reasonable.
VIN: WBS59910004301179
Engine: M88-238
Auction: RM Sotheby’s, Milano 2025, estimate 425’000 to 525’000 Euro, with these informations: «The example offered here is recorded to have been finished by Trattamento Italiano Resina (TIR) on 7 December 1979 and later completed by Baur on 7 March 1980, documented as the 116th M1 built. The BMW was finished in Rot over a Schwarz interior and was distributed via BMW Italia SpA. It is understood that early in its life, the car was taken to the United States, where it would be kept in a collection based in New York. The M1 later returned to Europe via its native Germany, and after being acquired by its consigning owner in December 2018 was registered in France in 2019. In the care of the vendor, in June 2019, the BMW was subject to €14,811-worth of mechanical maintenance by Dynamism Automobiles SAS, a BMW service centre based near Angers, France. In April 2022, the M1 was given €10,562-worth of further maintenance work by BMW Bayonne (invoices available to view on file). The odometer shows just 24,232 kilometres at the time of cataloguing».
We have the full history of the BMW M1 and a nice collection here. Then there is always the archive.
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