1990 BMW M8 Prototype
The BMW M8 Prototype was one car which
held two titles – fastest and most expensive – on BMW’s roster. The M8 could go from 0 to 60 in a record
breaking 3.4 seconds. It still stands as
one of the rarest cars ever built and over 20 years since the last one was
spotted, it has become an urban myth.
The V12 was based around two 6 cylinder engines from the M3 at the time and it proved to be instantly reliable in tests
of the 8-series. Although the M8 and its V12 engine were fully developed and
production ready having been signed off in test vehicles, the car was never
signed off by BMW management, despite M's insistence.
The engine was then used as the basis
for the McLaren F1 road car and Le Mans winner and also found a home in BMWs
own sports prototype Le Mans winner in 1999. It then went on to feature in a
first generation X5 with over 700 bhp, a 6-spd manual box and a 300 kph top speed, but this car never saw production either.
