The E24 M635CSi and E28 T M5-both brawny, built-to-order products of BMW's Motorsport GmbH arm are prime candidates for 'peak BMW' status, in my book anyway. In a world that is becoming ever more sanitised, these cars look, smell and feel like the real deal.
BMW could have come up with a pair of freakish hot rods as a way of promoting the talents of its Motorsport division, but that would not have been its style. On the other hand, to call the M5 and M635CSi subtle tends to underplay their capabilities. Perhaps they are more than just 'peak BMW', but somehow represent the height of achievement in the wider realm of analogue, rear-drive, usable performance cars.
Now fast alighting on their 40th birthdays, neither car was a young design even in the early 1980s. Weight-paring and aerodynamics were not exactly at the top of their designers' priorities, either. But behind those shark-like masks lurks the key to the charm of this M-car duo - and, arguably, something no truly great BMW should be without: a straight-six engine.
From a company that always took more than average pride in even its most humble power units, a semi-productionised version of its Paul Rosche-designed competition 'six' - battle-hardened in the works CSLs since 1974 as the M49- was always going to be special.
With shimmed bucket-tappets and single-row chain-drive for its double overhead camshafts, the 24-valve, 3.5-litre M88/3 was a hand-assembled, civilianised version of the engine found in the mid-engined M1, the car developed by the 180-strong Motorsport division (with a little help from Lamborghini) to take on Porsche in Group 5 racing. The dry-sump M1 had Kugelfischer butterfly-control mechanical fuel injection; in the wet-sumped M635 CSi, the spark plugs, fuel injection and timing were electronically managed by Bosch for an even meatier 286bhp at 6500rpm, along with a more road-friendly torque curve.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 2022 de Classic & Sports Car.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring