It’s low, wide and curvaceous, but is this anything to get excited about? If you believe the hype, this is a prototype of the new BMW M1, a production version of the M1 Hommage concept car. Or is it? There are several things about this picture that don’t quite stack up…

Like the timing, for instance. The M1 Hommage concept is barely a week old, yet for some reason BMW have already pumped out what looks to be a fully road-going car based on the same basic design? Automakers generally don’t develop the production version of a concept car in parallel with the concept itself.

It also looks like BMW took most of the cars in its own inventory, placed them in a blender and applied the resultant paste to a papier-mache frame to create this thing. There’s a bit of 6-series, X5 and even X6 in the body shape, but the most perplexing aspect of the design is the use of the M3’s bonnet - vents, bulges and all - in what’s supposed to be a rear-engined vehicle.

Conclusion: it’s a fake, but a damn good one at that. It’s a pity though, because if BMW were to make something like this we’re sure people would be willing to forget the whole Chris Bangle thing ever happened.

[Source: Fresh Tarmac]