Step One of raising your profile as a car brand: build a supercar. And since you’re BMW Motorsport GmbH (the snappy one-letter nickname isn’t official until 1991), best make one that’s a racing car as well as a road car.
Let’s be clear about what E28 M5 didn’t do first. The world’s first super saloon? A Dodge Coronet 426, Mk2 Jag 3.8 and many others would line up to set you straight on that point. BMW M’s first four-door? You could probably argue that the South African 530 MLE homologation special of 1976 nabbed that honour. Neither the MLE nor the German-built 1980 E12 M535i that came later had the M1’s 24-valve straight-six, mind, but the M635 CSi coupe did, and it was unveiled almost 18 months before the E28 M5.
In many ways the M Coupe is the odd one out in this group of BMW icons. It has no motorsport pedigree, production was short-lived and objectively it was neither a commercial nor even critical success. So, why is it here? Because above all, this car is a brilliant demonstration of the M division’s vision and craft, transforming unpromising base materials into something arresting, unique and – as time goes on – highly sought after.
Usually when some Arthur Daley type rattles off a story about one lady owner, that’s your cue to run a mile. Not this time, though, and this Plymouth’s new owners can barely believe what a fine survivor they’ve ended up with…
The C36 was not only the first AMG offered in undertake F1 Safety Car duties. Long-time fan and owner Sam Parmar lets us take a closer look at his stunning Lapis Blue example.
As car makers strive for ever better efficiency, lower fuel economy figures and improved CO2 emissions, sometimes petrol cars that have been out for a while drop into the realms of EcoCar, with its CO2 emissions limit of 125g/km. One such car is the Skoda Scala 1.0 TSI, as tested here in sporty Monte Carlo trim and with the 109bhp 1.0-litre TSI engine.
Pundits will argue that the 1986 Ford Taurus was the car that really redefined American car design during the Eighties; but I would argue that its Thunderbird stablemate
Lurking in the shadows of the poster children of the Group A generation of DTM cars – the Mercedes 190 E and E30 BMW M3 – the Audi V8 quattro DTM is easily forgotten.
Firsts seldom come in fours. However, as an embodiment of the representative quantum leap taken over its competitors of the era, at the 1965 Indy 500, the Lotus 38 heralded just that.
Just another 911 restomod? Not a bit of it. The team at Rindt Vehicle Design has really pushed the envelope with this 300bhp wide-body backdate based on a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet 964…
