Niki Lauda’s BMW M1 road car – his prize for winning the 1979 Procar Championship – will be heading to auction at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale in January 2026.
The model was built specifically for the Austrian Formula 1 driver, and it features some interesting deviations from standard. Aside from the hand-painted colour scheme, Niki Lauda’s BMW M1 features Procar-styling front air dam and the signature of BMW art car luminary Walter Maurer.
The inaugural 1979 BMW M1 Procar Championship delivered one of the most intense single-make seasons in motor sport history. Created as a support series for Formula 1, it pitted the world’s top F1 drivers – who automatically qualified for the front grid – against professional touring car and sports car specialists in identical BMW M1 Procars.
Lauda quickly emerged as the benchmark, winning three races. Nelson Piquet, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Clay Regazzoni and Jacques Laffite were also major forces, with Piquet becoming Niki’s fiercest challenger as the season progressed. Lauda clinched the title in the final race at Monza, finishing second behind Stuck.
Niki Lauda’s BMW M1 was imported into the US in 1987. It was displayed at the 2017 Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance in California, and it’s covered a total of 20,350km. However, there are few details about exactly how long Lauda owned the car.
There’s also another M1 that’s believed to have once been owned by the F1 legend – a Henna Red example appeared on Craigslist in the US in 2017, as reported by TheDrive here. Meanwhile, the racing car Niki used that season was up for grabs with UK specialist Dylan Miles relatively recently. You can hear the latter car’s M88 straight-six screaming to 9000rpm through an open exhaust in the YouTube video below – enjoy!
No estimate has been revealed pre-sale for Niki Lauda’s BMW M1, which goes up for auction at Mecum’s Kissimmee event on Saturday January 17, 2026. More information can be found via clicking here.
