At the end of the eighties, BMW took the plunge: they were going to build a V12 engine for production cars. In the decade that followed, they came up with the bike enthusiasts know as the S70. This came in 1992 in the BMW 850 CSi and in modified form of course also in the McLaren F1. The V12 in the BMW produced 385 hp and 542 Nm.
For reasons we’ll never understand (though there was something of a recession at the time), only 1,510 BMW 850 CSi were produced, of which this is one. It was taken off the treadmill in 1990 (two years before the start of sales) the factory as a ‘development car’. This car also officially counts as a pre-production model.
We’re not quite sure what BMW has been up to with this prototype, but in itself we approve of any excuse from employees to drive such a car. In any case, it cannot have been much, because in 2022, so more than 30 years later, the counter will only be at 8,643 kilometers. And that includes the kilometers that a well-known owner has driven.
He thus spent his first three years of life with the manufacturer in Munich, after which he was shipped to Venezuela to go to a special owner. He was picked up by a Venezuelan car and motorsport legend Alberto ‘Johnny’ Cecotto. It is one of the few drivers who really did something on both two and four wheels.
The special owner of the BMW 850 CSi
Cecotto took two world titles on the motorcycle after which he switched to Formula 2. He finished in joint first place in his first season. He was then allowed to move on to F1 with the Theordore team. A year later, he moved to the Toleman team, where he found himself next to a rookie named Ayrton Senna.
Later, Cecotto would also win the Spa 24 Hours in 1990 and the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1992. Sometime in the nineties Cecotto bought this BMW 850 CSi. He probably drove more on the track than with his twelve-cylinder, because, as mentioned, there are less than 10,000 kilometers on the counter. Eventually the car went back to BMW where it ended up in the museum.
At the end of the month, this BMW 850 CSi with very few kilometers and a special history will be auctioned. There is no minimum offer, but it won’t be dirt cheap. RM Sotheby’s does not give a price indication for this BMW.
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