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Photography courtesy BMW
Those clever folks at BMW M Motorsport. An April Fools’ Day joke is a great way to gauge interest in an idea. That concept last year? The BMW M3 Touring as a race car.
The folks on social media loved it–to the tune of more than 1.6 million views according to BMW. That response led to green-lighting the BMW M3 Touring 24H, entered in this year’s 24h Nürburgring.
It wasn’t too far of a stretch to create it. Engineers used the BMW M4 GT3 Evo as the “technical base” and placed a BMW M3 Touring body atop it. The biggest difference aside from bodywork is the Touring 24H is about 8 inches longer, including rear wing, and 1.25 inches higher than the M4 GT3 Evo.
Schubert Motorsport will field the entry, with BMW M works drivers Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen sharing driving duties. The BMW M3 Touring 24H will run in the SP-X class, so it won’t compete with the three BMW M4 GT3 Evos entered in SP 9. It will, however, share the SP-X class with a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II-based HWA Evo.R.
“This is truly a unique project, and I am absolutely delighted to be a part of it,” Klingmann said. “The fact that we took our fans’ reactions to an April Fools’ joke as an opportunity to actually make the BMW M3 Touring 24H a reality speaks to our closeness to our community and our enthusiasm for motorsport. It has to be said clearly that the car may have started as an April Fools’ joke, but it has become an absolutely top-class and competitive race car. Our goal is to put on a great show for the spectators at the Nürburgring and to finish the race as far up front as possible. I am convinced that we can achieve a top result.”
Jens Klingmann.
Shamelessly sharing this here:
I missed this completely (I'm apparently not hip and with it on the socials), but why is that an April fools joke? It seems like an M3 touring would be as fine of a base for a race car as any other M3, right?
And yes, I know explaining a joke kills it, so apologies to those who find this hilarious.
A wagon as a racecar? What is this world coming to!
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
BMW teased/made the "joke" last year, and, according to BMW, so many people thought it was a good idea that BMW followed through with it.
I wish the US can get the M3 Touring. Perfect proportions.
Bus as usual...we get Humpty Dumpty SUVs
I'm definitely copying the way they attached the wing.
Colin Wood said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
BMW teased/made the "joke" last year, and, according to BMW, so many people thought it was a good idea that BMW followed through with it.
confuZion3 said:A wagon as a racecar? What is this world coming to!
Okay, that's the entire joke then :)
I'd totally race a M3 Touring, so it just didn't click as something that someone WOULDN'T do.
In reply to scrapin240 :
With the exception of the Chinese grill, if course...
In reply to Growl_R :
Is your signature block a 2000s-era VW GTI headlights and grill?
WonkoTheSane said:I'd totally race a M3 Touring, so it just didn't click as something that someone WOULDN'T do.
Much as I love wagons (as street cars), the unibody is inherently heavier and less stiff than a coupe so it's really not the right choice if you're intending to win.
Cool to see though. :)
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