The Ultimate Driving Museum taps the 1979 E26 BMW M1 Procar as July’s ‘Car of the Month’
The BMW CCA Foundation and The Ultimate Driving Museum have selected the 1979 E26 BMW M1 Procar as July’s “Car of the Month Brought to You By Continental.”
GREER, S.C - The BMW CCA Foundation and The Ultimate Driving Museum have selected the 1979 E26 BMW M1 Procar as July's "Car of the Month Brought to You By Continental." The campaign, which began in June, will spotlight one car each month until the remainder of the year, to help support The Power of M exhibit at the Museum, celebrating BMW Motorsport's 50th anniversary.
The exhibit, which opened to the public on May 16 and will run through January 2023, features 25 cars and one motorcycle that represent BMW Motorsport's history, including significant race cars and their road-going counterparts from BMW M.
"Each car has its own story that established itself either as a race winner or a champion on the road. We at BMW CCA Foundation are proud of how BMW's legacy of winning races has translated to producing outstanding cars for the consumer," said Bruce Hazard, Board Trustee and head of Exhibit Committee for The Ultimate Driving Museum."
June's initial "Car of the Month" was the BMW 1974 E9 3.0 CSL No. 2275469, powered by a 3153cc M30 inline six-cylinder engine.
Featured this month is the M1 Procar, No. 4301075 (formerly No. 4301033), powered by a 3453cc M88 inline six-cylinder 470hp engine at 9000 rpm. It's equipped with a ZF five-speed manual and has a curb weight of 2244 pounds. It is owned by Bill and Billy Glavin of Mooresville, North Carolina.
When production problems delayed the M1’s homologation for 1979, BMW Motorsport Director Jochen Neerpasch devised the one-make Procar series as a support race to Formula 1 in 1979 and 1980.
The car is an original Procar, assembled by England’s Project Four, then finished at BMW Motorsport on May 9, 1979. Three days later, it ran in the first Procar race at Circuit Zolder in Belgium, entered by BMW Nederland and driven to second place by Toine Hezemans. Hezemans and No. 4301033 followed with a fourth at Monaco, ninth at Dijon in France and fifth at Donington in England. At Silverstone in England on July 13, Hezemans crashed, damaging the left front suspension mount. To make the next round at Hockenheim, Germany, two weeks later, BMW Nederland bought chassis No. 4301075 from BMW Motorsport and sent it to Project Four. To avoid paying for a new customs bond, No. 075 was restamped as No. 033, while No. 075 was stamped as No. 033, as confirmed by BMW Classic in 2022. Hezemans raced the new car for the remaining races of 1979, while No. 075 (originally No. 033) was kept as a spare through 1980.
In 1981, No. 075 was sold through BMW Motorsport to American Donald Duncan, who sold it to Henry Schmitt 20 years later. Schmitt raced it in the U.S. through 2016, and in 2019 sold it to Bill Glavin Jr. and his son Billy. The Glavins restored No. 075 to its original livery, as raced by Toine Hezemans in the first five Procar events of 1979.
Full information on this M1 Procar may be found at https://bmwccafoundation.org/uncategorized/continentals-car-of-the-month/.
"By recognizing each month one of the iconic cars that are in the exhibit, we hope to bring awareness to BMW fans and the public to the dynamic provenance each of these cars represents in the history of BMW Motorsport," added Hazard.
Along with 25 cars and one motorcycle, The Power of M includes informative displays throughout, telling the history of the cars and BMW M in words and photos.
The exhibit will also be commemorated with a lavishly produced book that features the history of each car and the M brand/BMW Motorsport, with text by Jackie Jouret alongside new photography by Klaus Schnitzer and archival photos. The books will be sold through the BMW CCA Foundation Store as well as Amazon.
Open to the public from May 16 through January 2023,The Power of M: Celebrating 50 Years is the fifth major exhibit staged by the BMW CCA Foundation. It follows these previous major exhibitions: 2017’s Heroes of Bavaria; 2018’s The ICON: 50 Years of the 2002; 2019’s PASSION: 50 Years of BMW Cars and Community; and 2020’s GENESIS: BMW From the Beginning. GENESIS closed in May 2021 following a successful year-long run at The Ultimate Driving Museum – right across Highway 101 from BMW Manufacturing, and next door to the BMW Performance Center in Greer, South Carolina.
ABOUT BMW MOTORSPORT GMBH: BMW Motorsport GmbH was incorporated on May 24, 1972, as a racing and high-performance division of BMW AG. For the last 50 years, BMW Motorsport has built and campaigned BMW’s factory race cars in all forms of motorsport worldwide, from touring cars to Formula One. BMW Motorsport also created BMW’s high-performance line of M-branded road cars, now built under the auspices of BMW M GmbH. For the track or the street, the cars built by BMW Motorsport represent the zenith of BMW’s engineering expertise, and its creativity in the areas of design innovation and sustainable performance.
ABOUT THE BMW CCA FOUNDATION: The BMW Car Club of America Foundation is an enthusiast-powered nonprofit, working in partnership with its donors, corporate partners and the 55,000-plus members of the BMW Car Club of America. It is not a subsidiary or program of BMW AG or BMW North America, although they are strong partners. The Foundation’s shared mission is to help young drivers learn car control in real-world situations (Tire Rack Street Survival), and celebrate the heritage of BMW Motorcars through its Museum, Archive, and Preservation programs. The BMW CCA Foundation operates the world's second-largest BMW museum and archive, on seven acres next door to the BMW Performance Center in Greer, South Carolina.
THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MUSEUM:
BMW Car Club of America Foundation
The Ultimate Driving Museum
190 Manatee CourtGreer,
South Carolina 29651
Mon - Fri: 9AM — 5PM
Sat: 10AM — 4PM
Sun: CLOSED
Holiday hours may vary
T: 864-329-1919
F: 864-879-2128
info@bmwccafoundation.org
https://theultimatedrivingmuseum.org/
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