The archive · Issue 01 in print

Hero Cars

A recurring series on the machines that built the modern enthusiast: Group A homologation specials, DTM saloons, and the Japanese coupés that followed them. Issue 01 is in print. The rest of the series is named and in preparation, published one per quarter, and never taken down once it lands.

The series ledger
In printIssue 01 — BMW E36 M3, 1992–1999
In preparationIssues 02–07, spanning 1986 to 2002
CadenceOne hero-car issue per quarter
SourcesHomologation papers, period race results, manufacturer heritage archives
Disputed figuresNamed as disputed rather than rounded away
Back issuesNothing is ever taken down
1995 BMW M3 (E36) coupe, Sydney — Issue 01, BMW E36 M3

Photograph by OSX · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Full credits

In print · Issue 01

BMW E36 M3

The M3 that stopped being a homologation special and became a way of life.

ChassisE36
Years1992–1999
EngineS50B30 / S50B32 I6
Output286 hp (3.0) · 321 hp (3.2)
Livery studiesFive, all drawn

Read Issue 01

In preparation · six issues

The rest of the series

Each car below is committed and researched. The chassis file goes up when the issue is finished, not before.

Decade
Marque

Showing all 6 issues.

Next issue

Issue 02 — BMW E30 M3

Join the dispatch list and the next chassis file lands the morning it is published.

Styled only — nothing is submitted anywhere.