BMW M1 concept for MIMS

BMW revealed its striking M1 Homage back in April last year, but the design study is not destined for production. That's the word from BMW Australia's General Manager of Marketing, Tom Noble.

"The local angle on bringing it down is we're just saying it's a fantastic piece of design and the guys who designed that are the guys who designed our other cars and you can see elements of [the M1 Homage] in and around the rest of the range," says Noble. 

In other words, when the M1 Homage goes on display at the Melbourne International Motor Show next month, it will be here to wow the crowd, not test the waters.

"We've already gone on record as saying we won't build this car," Noble confirmed to the Carsales Network.

"Really, what it has done is it was a design exercise for the Design Department, sort of saying 'what can BMW design when they put their minds to it?'"

An obvious target for the M1 is Audi's R8, which has generated a lot of press, but BMW remains adamant that there will be no counter-attack from Munich.

"The R8's a great looking car," says Noble, "[but] they're pretty cheap if you want to get one second-hand at the moment."

This is his supporting evidence for BMW not going ahead with a production version of the M1. There's little call for a high-priced sports car in the current economic climate.

"[The M1] certainly would be [a competitor to Audi's R8], if it went into production," admits Noble.

"At the moment, we're looking at it, not making any decisions on building that," Noble told the Carsales Network, suggesting the final decision is not 'final', per se.

But since BMW announced that a production version of its Concept CS sedan has been put on hold, a hypothetical production M1 is even more remote now.

At least Australian enthusiasts will get a chance to see the concept in person when BMW unveils it to the public in Melbourne next month, providing additional crowd-pulling power alongside the new 7 Series, which makes its local motor show debut in Melbourne.

Finished in Liquid Orange, the M1 Homage concept echoes the styling of the original M1 (more here) and combines current 'Bangle' aesthetic thinking with the heritage style of the production sports car from the 1970s.

It will be a stunner, but don't bother taking out the chequebook.