It's been confirmed that the BMW M1 will officially debut at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. This could quite possibly be the car many BMW fans and purist drivers have been craving for some time. As a lightweight two-door coupe whose main and only goal is to provide the maximum driving experience, BMW is building a car that returns to the automakers simplistic roots. It will be offered only with a six-speed manual and will feature a quad-pipe rear exhaust.

The only engine is the N54 twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 which, at its peak, will produce 340 hp with around 370 lb-ft of torque. Just for comparison, the current M3's V8 only does about 74 more hp. To differentiate it further from the standard 1 Series, BMW has added flared wheel arches and redesigned front and rear bumpers. Many have considered the current 3 Series to have grown too large over the years and now that BMW is giving the 1 Series the famed M treatment, mouths the world over are drooling over what will hopefully be the ultimate compact high performance coupe.

What we have been able to confirm is that only 2,700 units are to be built, with most of them allocated for the U.S. Color choices will be limited to just three: Alpine White, Jet Black, and Valencia Orange Metallic. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but for something this rare, it won't come cheap. A mid $40,000 base price sounds about right and there won't be many additional features to choose from. In fact, if you're lucky enough to be in a position to buy one let alone getting to the dealer in time, just take whatever you can get.

There's no doubt M1 Coupe will become a classic the instant it arrives and the lucky few owners will be driving one of the best performance coupes BMW has ever built.