The tubular steel space frame chassis was the work of Gianpaolo Dallara, but soon Lamborghini's financial position deteriorated and the possibility of the car's production by the Italian manufacturer faded, so BMW reassumed control over the project in April 1978, after seven prototypes were built.

The fibreglass body was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo concept car.

The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual transmission made by ZF Friedrichshafen equipped with a 40% locking limited slip differential.

The M1 has unassisted rack-and-pinion steering, and a double-wishbone suspension system with adjustable coil springs and Bilstein gas filled dampers.

Reflecting its motorsport roots, the M1 had a fairly basic leather and cloth interior, and used many parts sourced from other BMW models.

It offered amenities such as air conditioning, power windows, and a stereo, but provided no seat adjustment, and only left-hand drive was available.

The fibreglass body of the M1 was manufactured by Italian firm TIR (Trattamento Italiano Resina) which was located in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

The partly finished cars were then delivered to German specialist manufacturer Baur where final assembly took place by hand.

The series was created to aid BMW in building enough cars to enter the group 4 classification in the World Championship for Makes.

The concept vehicle uses a mid-engine layout that borrows styling cues from both the original M1 and the BMW Turbo show car.

The front sports double head lights which are not the same as pop-up type that are on the original M1, but the usual trademark of the kidney grilles is present.

The BMW i8 is based on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept, which is a range-extender electric car with a three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

[15][16][17][18] A highly modified version of the BMW M1,[20][21] the March-BMW M1/C, also known as the BMW-March M1/C, or simply the March 81P,[22] was an IMSA GTX/GTP sports prototype race car, designed, developed, and built by British constructor March Engineering, in collaboration with German manufacturer BMW, for sports car racing, in 1981.