BMW's Rad Wedgy Supercar Is Hiding Under This Camo—Here's What We Know
Could this EV coupe be a resurrection of sorts of the legendary BMW M1?
We now know what the most powerful M car in the history of BMW will look like … kind of. The mysterious electric coupe was caught testing recently, and while the spy images are clear enough to give us more than a good idea of the car’s silhouette, it was wearing a camo wrap that hid the more subtle details. Even so, there is still plenty for our eyes to pore over.
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Most Powerful M Car Ever
If you need a refresher, in June Frank van Meel CEO of BMW’s M division was asked what the automaker’s first BEV performance vehicle will offer, and van Meel was surprisingly forthcoming with his response. He said that it will “beat everything you have ever seen,” which is a mighty big claim. I mean we’ve seen the Millenium Falcon jump to lightspeed, is this thing gonna beat that?
Jokes aside, it’s been hinted that in its final form, this car will have the equivalent of over 1,300 horsepower which will come from four electric motors. The quad-motor layout could theoretically allow this coupe to do all kinds of magical things when it comes to handling and power distribution. However, that’s all under the skin, and yet to be confirmed. Let’s talk about what we can actually see in these spy shots.
The Return of the BMW M1?
The second these images broke, some folks on social media were already comparing the coupe’s silhouette to the legendary BMW M1 coupe, a wedgy Giugiaro design from the late 1970s. It might sound preposterous, but when you actually look at this new M Coupe against the classic M1, there are more than a few similarities. Both coupes have a similar wedge-like shape with a high tail line and a low front fascia that comes to a thin edge. Both the BMW EV M coupe and the M1 also both have understated “kidney” grilles.
They also both share the purpose of showcasing the cutting edge in BMW’s design and technology. Obviously, there are quite a few differences as well. The BMW EV M coupe isn’t going to have the rip snortin’ analog driving feel as the M1, and it certainly won’t have the sound produced by its iconic M88 inline-six. (The EV coupe should, of course, beat the pants off the M1 in any performance metric you can think of.)
Devil in the Details
Comparisons aside, the BMW EV M coupe has several distinctive touches that we notice even with the camo in full effect. First, we can see that the coupe features a LED taillight strip across the entire rear width. It’s designed to look like one continuous strip, but it’s actually split in to three separate pieces.
The coupe also sits relatively high for a performance car. It certainly seems to have more ground clearance than the M1 we compared it to earlier. Rather than pull more nostalgia with mesh style wheels, the BMW EV M coupe is sporting a set of staggered five-spoke wheels which continue the wedge motif.
If you pinch and zoom, you can get the faintest glimpse of the coupe’s interior, which looks to be mostly white upholstery that matches up with what we’ve seen from the Neue Klasse sedan concept. We think we spot a flat-bottom steering wheel, but that is a little harder to make out.
We're Gonna See This Coupe Again Soon
We wish we could see more, but there are only a handful of images so far. The good news is that, given the fact that BMW is doing dynamic testing, it's likely close to being revealed in the not-too-distant-future, perhaps as a proper concept or even as a production-ready vehicle. Rest assured we’re going to keep our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground at the slightest hint of more information. Stay tuned!
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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