BRIEF HISTORY LESSON
In 1978, BMW gate-crashed the supercar party with its awesome M1 coupé. Designed by Italian styling guru Giorgetto Giugiaro (the man behind other classics including the Lancia Delta, Maserati Spyder and original VW Golf), the mid-engine two-seater was powered by a 3.5-litre straight six, pumping out 275bhp - not much by today's standards. But back then, the lightweight Beemer could crack 60mph in 5.6 seconds and top out at 165mph. This M1 Hommage marks the 30th anniversary of the original.

GLAMOROUS UNVEILING
Rather than wait for one of the big European car shows, BMW execs chose to uncloak the Hommage at the Concorso d'Eleganza 2008 di Villa d'Este - an exclusive gathering of some of the finest classic and concept cars. The event is held every year on the shores of Lake Como in Italy and this time around, the M1 Hommage was easily the star of the show - with good reason. Despite being billed as a concept, BMW is rumoured to be developing a twin-turbo rival to Audi's R8. Due in 2012, this could be a sneak peek at the design.

THE ENGINE
BMW is keeping awfully quiet about what's beneath the Hommage's sleek sheetmetal, but our sources insist Munich's engineers have shoehorned the company's new twin-turbo V8 between the cabin and rear axle. The 4.4-litre all-alloy unit develops 404bhp and a massive 442lb ft of torque for serious acceleration. It's all hooked up to the M5's seven-cog paddle-shift gearbox, which has been tweaked for even faster responses.

21ST CENTURY RETRO
The Hommage may doff its design hat to the original M1, but stylistically, it's bang up to date. The complex interchange of convex and concave surfaces, a "floating" roofline, the world's most forward-thinking (and possibly weirdest ) alloys, plus heavily-recessed headlights which only show up when their LEDs beam into life. Very cool.

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