Caught Testing: BMW M3 Pickup

A BMW M3 pickup has been spotted doing hot laps at the world famous Nurburgring racetrack. Yes, this is the same V-8-powered BMW M3 that is renowned as one of the world's hottest, sportiest and all around lust-worthy German sports machines.

Yahoo spy photographers have provided the indisputable proof that someone at BMW has gone seriously crazy, by chopping off the back of a lovely M3 and slapping on a pickup bed behind the passenger compartment. From the B-pillars forward, this prototype is all ground-hugging BMW M3. Yet at the rear, this car has more in common with a Chevy El Camino or a Ford Ranchero.

This BMW M3 pickup was one of many official M3 cars being tested at the 'Ring, according to our sources. Racing stripes done up in camouflage hinted at this being a factory-endorsed prototype, rather than the handiwork of some wacky private owner. But the hacked-off B-pillar and crude rear window made it unlikely this car/truck stands a serious shot at production.

A BMW spokesperson has now confirmed to Road & Track that the M3 Pickup spotted in Germany is simply a one-off test mule. "BMW M did indeed create the pickup seen on the 'Ring, but it was just an internal project, not something that is in development," said Dave Buchko, BMW Advanced Powertrain & Heritage Communications Manager. "There are no plans to produce it."

Set to arrive in 2012, the next BMW 3 Series will showcase everything from a range of turbocharged 4-cylinder engines to a hybrid model and 5-door hatchback (designed in the same mold as the 5 Series GT). But you heard it here first: the 3 Series and M3 family tree will not include a pickup.

Source: Yahoo