If you’re a car enthusiast, you probably know that the McLaren F1 had a BMW-built V12 engine. But how did they test this engine? They did what any sane person would do- stuff it into an E34 M5 Wagon.
The Collecting Cars podcast, hosted by Chris Harris from Top Gear, found this out while speaking to David Clark last month, who was director of McLaren road and race vehicles from 1994 to 1998. He claims to have driven it too.
Clark describes it as “outrageous,” which is believable. With 627 hp, it has almost double what the production M5 made, but presumably the same tyres. He also says that BMW still have this V12 wagon in a secret collection of prototypes. One can only wonder what else BMW have hidden away from the public.
It was never intended for production, but it would have been awesome if it did. But look on the bright side- the fast wagons of today make the same ludicrous amount of power.
(photo credits: Bonhams (McLaren F1), Bringatrailer (BMW M5))
