Paul Walker's Tuned BMW M1 Hits The Auction Block, Already At $350,000

3 years, 9 months ago - 24 January 2021, autoblog

Can you believe it's been more than seven years since the beloved The Fast and the Furious actor Paul Walker tragically lost his life in a car accident? His memory still lives on through the movies he's been a part of but also the cars that have been part of his collection. Every now and then, we get to see yet another one of those cars sold via an auction.

Paul Walker didn't just pretend he liked cars in The Fast and the Furious series. He was a petrolhead indeed. There are endless accounts of him driving on the racetrack, meeting up with famous people in the industry, and of course, there are the cars. The list includes about 30 special vehicles, some of which were partly owned with Roger Rodas, who also lost his life in the same car accident on the 30th of November, 2013.

That list includes vehicles such as the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, a Ferrari Testarossa, three Porsches 911 997 GT3 RS, two Porsche 930 Turbos, a Saleen S7, several Mustangs and Saleen Mustangs, a 1st gen Ford GT with reportedly 800 horsepower on tap, a C1 Chevrolet Corvette, and several BMWs. While he was definitely a fan of the M3, owning five such different cars (two of which were E30s and three of which were E36s), he didn't forget the older cars either.

Alongside a BMW 2002tii Touring Alpina, there was also a very rare and special BMW M1. And we just came across that exact M1 on Bring a Trailer, where the current bid stands at $350,000 with 11 more days to go. This wouldn't be the first time this car is being auctioned off, as it also did the rounds back in November of 2014. Some 460 were ever built, including the road cars and the race cars. But just under 400 of them were actually street legal.

If that doesn't sound special enough to you, besides the low production numbers, the racing history of the vehicle, and the fact that it was part of Paul Walker's collection, you might like to hear that this car has got another very special thing going on. It's one of only ten BMW M1 examples to receive the AHG M1 Studie treatment, which means it's a special blend of stock and Procar versions, with custom bodywork and upgrades.

While the standard BMW M1 inline-six engine developed around 273 horsepower, this vehicle is rated for about 350, which by 1980 standards was quite a lot, especially if you'll consider the fact that a Lamborghini Countach LP400 S had a similar power output. The car is currently offered with a clean Montana title, and the odometer shows slightly over 4,200 miles (around 6,800 km).

And don't think that we mentioned the Lamborghini LP400 S just for the sake of it; the BMW M1 actually came about after an agreement between the Italian supercar builder and BMW in the late '70s, which ultimately didn't really work out and left BMW to handle the issue themselves. The car was also fitted with brand new Yokohama Advan tires in December 2020, so it should be good to go should you fancy taking it out for a spin.

Even though it was built with racing in mind, BMW didn't steer away from its premium extras, so the car is also fitted with air conditioning, power seats, and a Blaupunkt cassette player. Perhaps the only downside of this car is the fact that, according to the seller, it will not pass the California emissions test, so a private party buyer from this state will not be able to access this vehicle. But there are certainly ways to deal with problems like these.