Heritage as Inspiration: BMW M1 Hommage.

Design tribute to the BMW M1 celebrates its world premiere at the Concorso
d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2008.

Munich/Cernobbio. To mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1 super sports car,
BMW Group Design is presenting a homage to this legendary model as part of the
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2008. The BMW M1 designed by Giorgio Giugiaro
was a car of superlatives and a highly emotive vehicle that was
uncompromisingly primed for the race track. Spawning this development was the
BMW Turbo by Paul Bracq, a revolutionary concept car which, in addition to its
groundbreaking functional design, also boasted a raft of technical innovations.
It is from these two unique vehicles that the BMW M1 Homage takes its cue - a
design study that pays tribute to its forerunner models and an embodiment of
the competence, creativity and potential of the BMW Group Design team.

"For BMW, heritage is always also a living heritage. Drawing inspiration from
your own past and thereby reinventing yourself - that is exactly what the BMW
M1 Homage demonstrates in impressive style."
Dr Klaus Draeger, BMW Group Board Member, Development

A particular forte of BMW Group Design is to draw on its own powerful history
and actively feed this into the design of the future. The BMW M1 Homage is a
design study in the tradition of a BMW Turbo that represents a contemporary
take on the BMW M1 and the mid-engine concept. This tribute exhibits an
emotional design that showcases technology and integrates it into the overall
aesthetics of the vehicle.

The Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este provides the perfect backdrop for the BMW
M1 Homage. Here automotive beauties from the past meet the concept cars and
design studies of the future. It is in this dynamic field of tension between
past and present that the BMW Group Design team affords insights into its own
perspective on a historically inspired automotive future.
Homage to the BMW M1.

"For a company as for a product, it is important to be aware of one's roots. In
the spirit of Giugiaro and Bracq, the BMW M1 Homage unites the BMW values of
design and technology in a highly emotional and exciting interpretation."
Christopher E. Bangle, Director Design BMW Group

The BMW M1 was an utterly uncompromising super sports car oozing passion; its
forerunner, the BMW Turbo by Paul Bracq, displayed innovative technical
solutions that found their expression in emotional design. It is precisely this
blend - of technology and design, rationality and passion - that the BMW M1
Homage embodies. It presents an exciting and authentic interpretation of the
BMW M1 and the mid-engine concept from a present-day perspective, and the
legacy of the BMW M1 Homage is obvious at first glance. Unquestioningly it
takes up the graphic play of the hallmark BMW M1 colours black and orange and
interprets them anew. The Liquid Orange paintwork exclusively developed for the
BMW M1 Homage cites the classic BMW M1 colour, yet surprises with its
powerfully iridescent play of colour and brilliant depth. It shapes the
extrovert surface language and strikingly highlights the eloquent interplay of
convex and concave surfaces.

Mention the BMW M1, and another feature that immediately springs to mind is the
characteristic twin logo at the rear, on the right and left edge above the tail
lights. For BMW, this particular arrangement of its emblems has always
signalled a mid-engined model. In the development stage of the BMW M1 this dual
emblem was the first styling element to be approved even before the initial
sketches were drawn. Likewise, it was confirmed from the outset that the BMW M1
Homage would feature the same twin badges. Other specific styling cues taken
from the BMW M1 are the air vents in the bonnet and the louvers on the rear
windscreen, as well as the black cut line dividing the roofline from the rear
section of the body. Overall, the exterior dimensions of the BMW M1 Homage are
in keeping with those of the BMW M1; only the extended wheelbase indicates a
larger passenger cell.

Emotional design at the flashpoint between tradition and modernism.
The BMW M1 Homage takes long familiar elements from the BMW Design repertoire,
reinterprets them and couches them in a new context. Its design brings together
past and present, expanding the observer's perception through new design
solutions that find their expression in typical BMW style. If the contrasting
colours were a dominant design theme for the BMW M1, this contrast is
perpetuated in the BMW M1 Homage through its surface styling. Familiar
elements, such as the trademark proportions, are combined with new and exciting
lines, surfaces and details to create an up-to-date interpretation of the BMW
M1, which remains to this day an extraordinary car.

Shunning the strong wedge shape of other mid-engine cars, the BMW M1 Homage
consciously opts for BMW's characteristic proportions. A relatively long engine
compartment, a clearly defined transition into the A-pillar and a stretched
window line featuring the "Hofmeister" kink instantly give it away as a bona
fide BMW. The horizontal flow of lines lowers the car's visual centre of
gravity and lends it an air of sovereignty.

Though the BMW M1 already boasted extremely harmonious and sporty proportions,
its surface design was not yet an explicit styling issue and was dominated by
high-contrast graphic themes. Today, however, next to the car's proportions, it
is primarily the unusual surface styling that determines the strong recognition
value of a BMW model. For some years now, all BMW vehicles have exhibited a
striking and unique design language. The sculpting of the surfaces demands
substantial experience and craftsmanship at the highest level. Only through the
combination of craft skills, state-of-the-art technology and a sure sense of
the personality of each BMW can designers and modellers achieve the overall
sculptural effect that lends a BMW its unique character. The BMW M1 Homage
systematically melds the proportions and graphic themes of the BMW M1 with the
surface language of the new BMW look - a combination that imbues the vehicle
with an exciting, sporty and authentic emotionality.

The front-end styling of the BMW M1 Homage adopts many of the graphic design
themes of the BMW M1: the contrast between the black, recessed surfaces and the
car colour, the small, squat kidney grille and the "invisible" headlamps. And
yet the front of the BMW M1 Homage is an absolute novelty for BMW. Each element
assumes a function: the hallmark twin kidney, for example, is not only a
distinguishing feature of the BMW brand but combines aerodynamic, cooling-air
routing and safety solutions. The design of the headlamps, meanwhile, is a new
iteration of the retractable headlights of the BMW M1. Like the lamps on the
historic model, those on the BMW M1 Homage are only visible when switched on.
When not in use they are discreetly integrated into the front-end design and
"disappear" into the recessed black cutline, almost like pop-up headlights.

Along the side of the car all the lines, surfaces and details lead the eye from
the front end along the stretched engine compartment and clearly defined
A-pillars before converging at the centre of the vehicle. Two expressive lines
are drawn from the front along the flanks of the vehicle towards the engine
compartment area. The flow of lines begins in a straight, disciplined fashion
at the front end, lowering the optical centre of gravity of the BMW M1 Homage
and highlighting its low-slung stance. From the middle of the car, however, the
lines break up. The power of the design is focused precisely where the power of
the vehicle also lies - at the engine. Strong, sensuous sweeping lines
accentuate the car's mid-engine concept, the design emphasising the mechanics
behind it, the engineering skills and the engine expertise of the BMW Group.

The roofline of the BMW M1 Homage is flatly tapered, extending into and around
the rear. In so doing it draws a continuous line and forms a link between the
two sides of the car. It is on this line, above the tail lights, that the
hallmark twin BMW logo can also be found.

"Engineering is beautiful - let's show it!"
The overall design is driven by functionality and each detail has its purpose.
Aspects such as aerodynamics, cooling-air routing and safety lend the BMW M1
Homage technical substance and make it a genuine BMW. A telling symbol of this
is the kidney grille design of the BMW M1 Homage, fulfilling as it does several
functions at the same time. The twin kidney isn't just a signature BMW feature,
it is also part of the car's honed aerodynamics: it guides the air to the
engine cooling as well as constituting the front section of a crash box,
similar to the monocoque chassis of a Formula One race car.

Inspired by aircraft design, the car as a whole also boasts sophisticated air
ducting through the body. For example, the cooling-air routing for the engine
is positioned below the roofline, in the black recessed cut line along the side
of the vehicle behind the window graphic. Small flaps and openings guide the
air stream into the engine compartment to ensure an adequate supply of cooling
air.

Vision and inspiration.
"The BMW M1 Homage clearly manifests the creativity and potential of the BMW
Design team. A project such as this is a valuable source of inspiration for our
day-to-day work."
Adrian van Hooydonk, Director Design BMW Automobiles

The BMW M1 Homage holds great significance for the BMW Group Design team, its
genesis epitomising both a living tradition and an innovative future. This
vehicle is designed as a source of inspiration; it sets out to challenge us to
question and rethink what we see around us. The BMW M1 Homage pays eloquent
tribute to the BMW Turbo and the BMW M1, which in their design were well ahead
of their time. Originally slated as "merely" a design study or small series,
their influence remains very palpable today - 30 years on.

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BMW Group Canada

Jochen Frey, Director, Corporate Communications
905.428.5005 / jochen.frey@bmwgroup.ca

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