BMW lovers know the history of the Turbo and how he shaped the M1. Reminder fans even remember the internal code name E25, although it is only a concept car. But even after all these years we still discover fascinating details about the sports car with medium engine. In a new video in Petersen Automotive Museum, some quirks that you may have missed come to light.
Tom Plucinsky, head of the BMW Group Classic USA, takes us on a tour of the striking concept from 1972. The company’s first car with ABS also had many other security features that we take for granted today. The turbo contained front and rear sections filled with foam to absorb the impact, and it would not begin unless the seat belt was attached. The engineers even implemented a rudimentary radar distance -alarm system with a collision warning meter. The latter’s task was to inform the driver about whether he would be able to stop in good time in order to avoid a crash.
While the seagull doors and the removable bike fats are striking, the hidden fuel filler cap is another clever feature. It is hidden under one flap on the front hood on the passenger side. You need to know that it is there to access it. This only underlines Paul Bracq’s brilliance to keep styling as smooth and slim as possible.
For safety reasons, the wedge sports car with its shark-nose front also deviated the dashboard onto the driver. The idea was that a belt driver reaches all controls on the center console without having to lean forward. Three years after the Turbo concept, the 3 Series (E21) from 1975 passed this setup, which later became a BMW Inner Hallmark.
Plucinsky also opens the rear bar to be charged the 2.0-liter petrol engine from Turbo. This four -cylinder unit produced 280 hp, which was more than 170 hp of the Turbo 2002, just a year later. BMW notes that the output was actually varied between 200 and 280 hp depending on the Boost printing of the Turbo.
A four-speed manual transmission sent electricity to the rear axle, so that the turbo sprints to 62 km/h (100 km/h) in impressive 6.6 seconds. It reached a respectable 155 km/h. It only weighed <1,272 kilograms (£ 2,804) and was somewhat shorter at 4.155 millimeters (163.5 inches) than a first generation 1 series.
Although the Turbo was originally searched for for a sensation at the 1972 Summer Olympics from 1972 in Munich, it developed into something that became more sophisticated by the highlighting of security features. BMW wanted to prove that crash structures could be integrated into the body without affecting the design. For this reason, the coupé had hydraulic shock absorbers on both ends, together with a collapsible safety steering column with three cardan joints.
The M1 only arrived in 1978 and BMW has no real flagship super sports car since then. Marketing may say that the XM is an indirect successor, but we know better. The brand came close to a dedicated performance area several times, but all of these projects were ultimately set up. The youngest, which was scrapped, the vision M was next to reach the market in the early 2020s, but was killed on the basis of the coronavirus pandemic and the high development costs.
Video: Petersen Automotive Museum / YouTube
