Affordable Supercar Series: ASS

The word "supercar" conjures up different images to different people.  Some think of the svelte, sexy curves of an Aston DBS or a Ferrari 599.  To others, a supercar is meant to go as fast as freakin possible even if there needs to be a plethora of wings, scoops, and vents like on a Gumpbert Apollo or Lotus Esprit.  Today, we're not going to talk about any of those.  Nope.  Today is about a BMW that can fly under the radar and yet doesn't look like any BMW you'd regularly see.  This is the 2001 BMW M coupe.

2001 BMW M coupe courtesy of screene.com

Let's get the negatives out of the way first.  It is a bit small at 158 inches long and while it's 68 inch width seems normal, the cockpit is a bit snug.  There may be some inadvertent man-touching when showing your buddy the blistering performance.  Also, you and your friend won't be able to bring your man-sized lunches to work due to the size of the hatch.  To summarize the negatives, it looks like a sneaker, is the same size as a sneaker, and can comfortably fit two people who live at the gym... in their sneakers.

Lucky for us, this shoe comes from BMW's M division.  So this isn't a pair of Toyota walking shoes or Jeep cross trainers.  This is a pair of Usain Bolt's track shoes.  This BMW has the same motor as the E46 M3, meaning it has 315 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque in 3100 lb body.  Better lace em up tight.  It does zero to sixty in 4.7 seconds and crosses the 1,320 foot line at the dragstrip in 13.2 seconds.  That aforementioned 158 in length contributes to a nice tidy 97 inch wheelbase which allows acceleration to happen in any direction. 

BMW M roadster courtesy of v10.pl

As we all know, BMWs aren't exactly cheap.  This model will run you somewhere around 20 grand for a clean example.  Remember, you'd be paying for exclusivity considering only 690 of these were sold in the United States.  The roadsters are a few grand cheaper, are more readily available but also handle worse due to their top being cut off.   Either way, it's ridiculous to think that neither of these Ms could satisfy a person's lust for speed.  They might as well wear clown shoes.