BMW create M3 pickup for April Fools’ prank

Who said the Germans have no sense of humour?

After spy shots of it at the Nurburgring found their way onto the internet, the BMW M3 pickup has been revealed not as a production model or test mule for the next M3, but as a fully-functioning April Fools’ joke. That’s right, BMW has gone to the trouble of engineering a fourth body-variant of the M3 following the coupe, convertible and sedan versions.

Created at the BMW M GmbH development centre, BMW are calling the M3 pickup ‘the world’s first high-performance pickup’ – somehow ignoring the vehicles Holden and Ford have been manufacturing in Australia for the past eighty years. That’s not to say it doesn’t offer high performance though. The obligatory M3 V8 engine in the pickup develops 420 hp, which Nurburgring testing has shown can propel the truck to 300 km/h. This is also thanks to the aerodynamics, which wind tunnel testing revealed were on par with the M3 coupe.

Kerb weight for the M3 pickup is 50 kilograms less than the convertible model, and a further 20 kilograms less when the Targa roof is removed. This also reduces the vehicles centre of gravity which BMW say offers an ‘unusual’ driving experience.
  
Yet performance isn’t all the M3 pickup has going for it. Being a utility vehicle, practicality is obviously a major quality as well with the high-grade structured aluminium sheeting offering a load capacity of 450 kilograms. This is the biggest cargo capacity a BMW M vehicle has ever offered which, in terms for people who buy these sorts of cars may need to know, equates to 20 standard 46-inch golf bags.

Although it meets the requirements for road certification, there are no plans for the M3 pickup to go into production. Instead, BMW say the one-off vehicle will be used as a workshop transport for the GmbH center.