It was the start of BMW's M brand, therefore it was the beginning of an era. The BMW M1, a mid-engined, Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed street and race car, was originally a joint project between the German automaker and Lamborghini. But due to the latter's money problems at the time, BMW ended up taking over the project entirely. While production began in 1978 and lasted until 1981, just 450 road cars were built. We've written about them several times before, but what ever happened to the prototypes?

Turns out at least one of them was stuffed away in a Bavarian barn for the last 30 years. With only 1,000 miles on the odometer, this is supposedly (according to the seller) the first BMW M1 prototype and was produced by Lamborghini. The seller is also claiming the car was later converted for racing and even took part in the 1979 season of the Procar BMW M1 Championship. Obviously just by looking at the photos this thing will need a complete restoration. Interestingly, the bidding on eBay for it appears to have ended with no sale. The highest bid was $81,600. Photos courtesy of m1-procar/eBay Motors.