Do you remember... 2008 BMW M1 Homage

A neat introduction, then, to this week’s retrospective, itself a retrospective. It’s the BMW M1 Homage of 2008 – conceived as a tribute to the car that first put that now legendary letter before a single number. The original happens to be BMW’s only supercar to date. A significant car then. Naturally, speculation in 2008 was rife that the retro-futurist tribute to the M1 was, in fact, an indication that BMW was to return to the supercar fray, with fierce rival Audi having debuted the R8 not long before. 

Even then anyone with a bit of sense about them knew this concept’s purpose was to begin and end with an artistic look back at the original. Today, it’s entirely obvious, although no exercise in automotive styling, no matter how gratuitous, is without its own purpose. The gestational flourishes of multiple styling cues from BMW’s current range – the i8 especially – can be seen in the contrasting curves and edges of the M1 Homage. It’s a curious amalgam of both stunning and visually challenging. Not surprising given then- BMW Design Director Chris Bangle’s reputation for a handsomely proportioned car that’s as easy on the eyes from some angles as it is eyebrow-raising from others. A total success as a tribute to the Giugiaro-penned original as far as we’re concerned.

Could the idea, if nothing else, of a mid-engined BMW exotic have been taken from the Homage and productionised? There’re plenty of arguments for the affirmative. The aforementioned R8 was a sensational success in terms of competence, sales and as a result, brand image. Add to that the fact that BMW M themselves also had a high-revving V8 ready to go that would have been, if anything, even more of a peach sat amidships in a supercar than it was in the M3 of the time. You’ve got to wonder why they didn’t climb aboard.

That the R8 could borrow from convenient VAG supercar stablemates Lamborghini perhaps helped the business case. A BMW of that sort would have to have been a bespoke build. You can bet your bottom dollar that the conversation happened in BMW product planning and that the above points and more were weighed up and examined closely. That it didn’t yield offspring for the M1 Homage to call its own will always be a shame. Then again, when have production cars ever lived up to the radical dream machines from which they drew inspiration? It’s safe to say most don’t. We can take solace then in the fact the M1 Homage remained pure and true to its original purpose.