BMW M1 Procar Looks Good As New After Spectacular Restoration

Look at that beauty. Just 40 BMW M1 Procars were ever made and No.31 has gone through a complete and exquisitely-done restoration by Canepa.

The No.31 served as a spare car during the BMW M1 Procar Championship, so it never actually hit the track and didn’t get the chance to race in anger.

But the car was then stripped of various race car parts to turn it into a road-legal M1 Procar, the only one of the 40 made to be able to hit the streets.

It’s gone through a few owners, the first being a German customer who bought it in November 1979. It was picked up by an American collector four years later.

The stunning M1 Procar was then modified for use on US streets, being allowed to take to the roads in 1985 – one year after it was transported from Munich to America.

No.31 made a number of car show appearances and was “very active on the BMW scene” in the mid-1990s – according to the sellers. But sadly it was then put in storage as a long-term collectable.

In October 2012 it burst back into life, having covered just 3728 miles since arriving in the US. After thorough examination at Canepa a full restoration was ordered and now we can see the results.

It was completely disassembled and some of the parts BMW fitted to make it street legal were taken off and replaced with genuine M1 Procar parts, restoring it to its former glory back when it was a spare race car.

But while many of the M1 Procar parts have returned to No.31, it hasn’t been completely transformed back into its former self as it remains a street legal car.

The attention to detail with this restoration is staggering. Here’s one stage of the process, which features on the Canepa listings page:

“In order to assure its accuracy we went as far as to bring an original factory Procar racecar into the shop to be studied and photographed to make sure that no detail was overlooked.”

Procar parts like suspension uprights, hubs, control arms, tie rods, axles and mirrors, body kit, huge rear wing and centre lock BBS wheels were returned to No.31, “completing its destiny from 37 years earlier”.

With no brake calipers available for the M1 Procar, larger Brembo ones from the Porsche 962 race car were fitted. It’s powered by the M88 engine, which has gone through a total rebuild.

It produces 414bhp, 357lb/ft of torque and features electronic fuel injection, while there’s a rebuilt five-speed ZF manual gearbox.

One thing’s for sure, this is a truly unique version of an already rare and special race car. And it looks absolutely beautiful. Check out the Canepa page for more information.