BMW M3 GTR (E46), Most Wanted, Silver & Blue

For a car that raced properly for only one season in America, the E46 M3 GTR has had a long life. BMW built it for the 2001 American Le Mans Series around a 4.0-litre V8 in a body that still looked like the road M3, and it won the GT category that year. Rule changes for 2002 asked for far more road cars and engines than BMW intended to make, so the programme ended there; the GTR later won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2004 and 2005. Then, in 2005, it became the car at the heart of the video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted, painted silver with broad blue bands, and won a cult following. The connection runs both ways: in November 2024 BMW wrapped the 2001 series-winning #42 car in the game's livery as a museum piece.

This model wears that silver and blue scheme: metallic blue sweeping up from the sills in diagonal bands across the doors, over the bonnet and the roof. The widened arches hold silver multi-spoke wheels with gold centre-lock nuts, and a tall black wing stands on two uprights above the boot. Through the glass are a white roll cage, a blue bucket seat, a switch panel with coloured buttons and a fire extinguisher. It stands on a carbon-pattern base under a black plaque reading 1/18 BMW M3E46 GTR, Limited Edition, one of 399. The graphics belong to the model only and imply no link with the game's publisher.