Chris Harris buys himself a punchy little BMW M car
There may well be no higher form of praise in the motoring industry than when a host of Top Gear decides to buy one of your cars.
Jeremy Clarkson's hunt for a Ford GT, James May's love for drop-top Ferraris, and Hammond's own crush for old-school Ford Mustangs and Land Rover Defenders has helped thrust each brand into the welcoming mainstream limelight.
Of course the trio of Clarkson, May, and Hammond have since moved on, but that doesn't mean that the fascination of what professional car journalists drive dies with them.
The current Top Gear hosts are a case in point, whether you dig the new series or not. Matt LeBlanc purchased a Ford Focus RS for himself in August, and just a month later Chris ‘Monkey’ Harris has bought himself a new set of wheels too; a BMW 1M Coupe.
Posting about it on Twitter, Harris praised the Coupe in much the same way that many others did when it was launched in 2011, though he even went as far as to saying it was better than its spiritual replacement; the M2.
“Always wanted a 1M. Prefer it to the M2, and yes I paid crazy money for it, but that seems to be the price of them now,” he posted.
“Small, angry, ace. [...] I am loving this thing.”
The 1M and M2 are curious inclusions to BMW's M-Series mix. They're stellar cars on their own, to the point where they're almost capable of equaling and beating the larger M3-replacing BMW M4.
But that's dangerous territory, since the M4 is meant to be the dominant go-getter in the M line-up. And, if you believe what's written in print publications worldwide, you'll know that many indeed rank the M2 as a superior drivers car.
Time will tell the plans for the two platforms, but keep an eye on the little 1M regardless. It's dangerously close to becoming a future classic.