IT HAS BEEN NAMED, AND THAT NAME IS 'BMW M HYBRID V8'
You know the internal combustion engine really has limited time left on the planet when a company that’s all about creating the fastest and best cars they can starts to play with fully-electric setups. Yeah, that’s right, after a good 50 years of BMW M cars, the Munich powerhouse shows off some of the world’s best technology in the form of the BMW M Hybrid V8, and it wears some very cool camouflage in the colours of M. What you see here is the result of all the best minds coming together to create not only a prototype electric hybrid race car, but a competitive one too. “The most critical task and the greatest challenge for the design team in the LMDh programme design team was that the prototype must be clearly recognisable as a BMW M Motorsport car. And I can say this to all the fans, just one look is enough to confirm that the BMW M Hybrid V8 is a BMW. It clearly carries the genes of BMW M. I also love the camouflage livery with its references to the great history of the brand in North America. Congratulations to the design and aerodynamics departments at BMW M Motorsport and Dallara on their great work. I can hardly wait to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 on the track soon.” says Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH:
The BMW M Hybrid V8 is unmistakably BMW thanks to the inclusion of the iconic kidney grille into the front end, albeit rather wide. We’ll take wide of the monstrosity from the BMW M4, although it must be said that is growing on us. The BMW M 50th anniversary logo hammers home that this is indeed an M creation. That BMW M-coloured livery is something quite clever. Not only is it in the colours of the company, but it’s actually proper camouflage to stop other automakers stealing with their eyes when the car is seen testing on track. Making it an even cooler story, the camouflage pattern is actually made up of images of some of BMW’s most iconic racecars, and so we see the 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL, the 1981 BMW M1/C, the 1978 BMW 320i Turbo, the 1986 BMW GTP, the BMW M3 E36 GTS-2, the BMW Z4 GTLM and the BMW M8 GTE.
“My team's job was to make the BMW M Hybrid V8 look like a BMW, and embrace every opportunity to make it also perform like one on the race track,” said BMW Group Designworks Global Automotive Director Michael Scully. “The design is rooted in BMW’s DNA of purposeful, efficient performance, and the exterior’s bold, determined character invokes BMW's frontiersmanship of turbo power, now united with an optimised hybrid electric powertrain. The camouflage livery celebrates the 50 Years of M by commemorating the great cars of BMW’s storied history in IMSA racing while uniquely cloaking the BMW M Hybrid V8’s future-facing exterior geometry and technologies during the critical on-track development phase of the project. If you look closely you’ll discover multiple winners of the Daytona 24 Hours, as well as the very first purpose-built IMSA GTP car from 1981, the BMW M1/C. We’ll follow-up this camouflage with a works livery that exemplifies the dynamism and excitement of hybrid electric-powered competition.”
Take a look at the YouTube video from BMW M's series ///M Bedded that shows the reveal of the latest in M technology used on the amazing prototype hybrid racecar that's finally been named the BMW M Hybrid V8: WE ARE M – Mbedded, Episode 7. UNVEILING: The BMW M Hybrid V8 Design.| BMW M
Be sure to check out our YouTube channel here for more exciting and exclusive SXdrv content! And don't forget to smash that subscribe button!