Cars
BMW M: three colours, one message
This article explores the origins of BMW's sports car division, Motorsport, and how it came to be a driving force for the company. Starting with the company's post-World War II struggles, the article traces the development of the Motorsport divisio.
A letter and three colours form a livery that has become legend: we are of course talking about the M of Motorsport which, when combined with blue, red and purple (many think it is dark blue but the GLASGRUIT 4004 paint code, is in fact identified as “violett blue”) identifies the racing department and the high-performance road-going cars from BMW.
But how did the sports car division of the Bavarian brand come into being?
BMW had emerged from World War Two destroyed. The memories its illustrious sporting successes - including victory at the 1940 Mille Miglia - were not enough to push the Bavarian brand towards a return to racing. On the contrary, the situation of the company was so precarious that it bought the license to build the Isetta in Germany from Iso in Italy and equipped it with its famous twin-cylinder motorcycle engine.
