When it comes to Gran Tourer beauty, nothing on the road comes quite close to the BMW M8, even in its camouflage-stickered disguise, with the possible exception of the Lexus LC luxury performance coupe.

There's the novelty of the series in itself, since the car hasn't been around since 1999/2000, the low-slung silhoutte that will snatch all the attention from the regular supercars and the very fact that it isn't just your regular BMW. Rather, it's a car that has been tuned to tear up tarmac on the race track without compromising on the very comfort you'd need on a daily basis.

At a quaint location at the legendary Nurburgring itself, a fully camouflaged, early prototype of the future BMW M8 was unveiled in a driving presentation as part of the support programme for the Nurburgring 24-hour race.

It seems alongside the ongoing development of the standard 8 Series, the engineers at BMW M have been working flat-out on the M model. Classical M features like larger air intakes, modified brakes and a sports exhaust with four tailpipes hint at the significantly boosted power and dynamic potential of the car, and whet the appetite for a driving experience of intense emotional richness.

"The conception and development of the standard BMW 8 Series and the M model run in parallel," explained Frank van Meel, President of the BMW M Division. "The future BMW M8 will build on the genes of the 8 Series and augment its DNA with added track ability and generous extra portions of dynamic sharpness, precision and agility. It all flows into a driving experience that bears the familiar BMW M hallmarks and satisfies our customers' most exacting requirements."

The BMW 8 Series was scheduled to be revealed at the Concorso D'Eleganze Villa d'Este Classic car show. It will be based on the company’s new 7 Series sedan, with a possible convertible version expected to be introduced in 2019.

Development of a race-spec car is also underway - the BMW M8 GTE - to spearhead the return of BMW Motorsport to Le Mans. "Developing a new racing car is always exciting, and in the case of the BMW M8 GTE the anticipation is that much greater still. We can't reveal any pictures yet, but I can promise you that the BMW M8 GTE will look spectacular. We are planning an initial roll-out for the first half of this year and are looking at giving the car its race debut in the Daytona 24 Hours in late January 2018," said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.