A proud owner collected his new car from BMW Welt 'Premiere' in Munich on Thursday. On the surface this is nothing special except the car was a 1979 BMW M1 Procar racing car. Fresh from its restoration by BMW Classic the M1 is the property of Masakuni Hosobuchi, President of the BMW Club Japan.
Described as an avid collector of BMW M vehicles Masakuni commented on his freshly renovated car; "BMWs are my great passion, and the Procar definitely will get a place of honour in my collection. It was very important to me to restore the car to its former glory after so many years of racing. And who could have done a better job than the manufacturers themselves? It also gives me great pleasure to pick up this classic car right here at BMW Welt, amidst all the new vehicles".
Showing appreciation of his new car Masakuni took it for several laps of the circuit on the Premiere platform at BMW Welt; attracting applause from the gathered crowd.
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The M1 Procar is one of 54 built for a racing series that supported the Formula 1 championship in 1979 and 1980. Top F1 and privateer drivers competed against each other in mechanically identical cars but each with its own look. Masakuni Hosobuchi's car is entitled "Yes to the Nürburgring," and carries images of the famous race track; in 1980 Nelson Piquet and Hans Stuck drove the car to a class win and third place overall at the 1,000km race on the Nordschleife circuit.