The one and only BMW M1 (pictures)

The M1 is the only supercar BMW has ever made.

Despite frequent calls for a successor, one has never appeared.

It's a midengined wedge, a la '70s Lamborghini.

Which is no surprise because it was developed by said Italian firm...

...for a while. Then it went bust and BMW had to get its stuff back.

Its 3.5-litre straight six was modified and used in future BMW models...

...because the M1 was a bit of a flop. Only 456 were ever made.

It was designed to be homologated to race in the various sport car races of the late '70s.

Sadly, just as the M1 was ready to rock, the rules were changed, leaving BMW in something of a pickle.

So, rather than bin the M1 project off and put it down "to experience," BMW created Procar, a one-make M1 race series.

While the road-going M1 had around 270 bhp, the race cars had around 800 bhp thanks to turbos. Really, really big turbos.

The M1 did eventually make its way to the sports car races it was designed for.

It did rather well, too. So it wasn't all a wasted effort.