BMW

For a long time, BMW had been wanting to compete with arch rival Porsche in motorsport racing. Thus, the development of the M1 was initiated. The car was to be strictly mid-engine in order to outclass its competitors. As BMW wasn't able to build 400 road-going examples of the car in the required time period as stipulated by the rules, the company partnered with Lamborghini to work out the details of the car's chassis, assemble prototypes and manufacture the vehicles. However, soon Lamborghini's financial position deteriorated and the possibility of the car's production by the Italian manufacturer faded. BMW reassumed control over the project in April 1978, after seven prototypes were built. The M1 coupé was hand-built by the motorsport division of BMW, as a homologation special for sports car racing. The fibreglass body was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo concept car. Only 453 production cars were built, making it one of BMW's rarest models. Out of the 453, 399 were road going units while 53 were made for motorsport.