One Owner from New BMW M1 to Star at Concours of Elegance

The Concours of Elegance is delighted to present a 1980 BMW M1 whose remarkable 44-year biography reads like an adventure novel spanning continents, racing circuits, and romantic European capitals. This machine embodies everything the legendary supercar was designed to represent.

The BMW M1 was from inception a bold statement: mid-engined, hand-built, and engineered for motorsport as the first standalone model from BMW’s M division. With design by Giorgetto Giugiaro and powered by a race-bred straight-six engine, the M1 remains a design and engineering icon capturing the supercar zeitgeist of the late 1970s.

This example has been owned from new by Tim Hignett, a BMW main dealer who operated L&C Tunbridge Wells from 1969 to 2003. Delivered in 1980 by road from Munich by Willie Reisner, BMW Concessionaires’ Technical Manager, the car was originally registered in the Isle of Man as it lacked UK type approval.

In 1982, the newly-married Hignett persuaded his wife that a three-week tour of European capitals via their pristine white M1 would make the perfect honeymoon – all belongings packed into bespoke BMW luggage for what ranks as one of motoring’s most glamorous honeymoon adventures.

Two years later, the M1 returned to Germany for the inaugural BMW M1 Club meeting at the Nürburgring, completing demonstration laps of the fearsome Nordschleife during BMW’s celebrations for the new Grand Prix circuit opening. Each owner received a personalised model of the ‘clay buck’ used in the original design.

The most dramatic chapter occurred in 1987 during the annual BMW convention in Nice. The M1 was stolen from a secure underground car park, vanishing without trace. One month later, it mysteriously reappeared and was returned to the UK.

When Hignett sold his BMW dealer group in 2003, he retained the M1 as his collection’s cornerstone. The car continues representing BMW M’s spirit, recently featuring at Partridge BMW celebrating 50 years of the M division.

This M1 exemplifies the supercar exactly as BMW intended – lived with, enjoyed, and experienced rather than preserved. From honeymoon tours to racing demonstrations, it will grace Hampton Court Palace from September 5th to 7th with stories to tell.