Released in August 1992, it was faster than its predecessor, the Nimbus 2000. It officially became the fastest broom in existence, until the launch of the Firebolt in 1993.[3] The broom itself was black and silver with revolving stirrups.[4] Despite the Firebolt being faster, the Nimbus 2001 was still used by the majority of Quidditch teams across the globe.
In January 1994, after Harry Potter received a Firebolt as a Christmas gift, which was confiscated by Professor McGonagall on the grounds that it may have been sent by Sirius Black, Oliver Wood suggested Harry get a Nimbus 2001. However, Harry flatly refused to buy 'anything Malfoy thinks is good'.[5]
The Slytherin Quidditch team was outfitted with a Nimbus 2001 each by Lucius Malfoy, with the suggestion being that the gift was in exchange for his son, Draco Malfoy being made Seeker.[2] It is unknown whether the students who joined the team in later years, such as C. Warrington, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle, were given this model of broomstick when they joined the team or if they had to use the broomstick that they already had (if they had one).
If the new players were not given Nimbus 2001s when they joined the team and did not have brooms of their own, they probably had to use one of the old school brooms.
The Nimbus 2001 is slightly shorter than the Nimbus 2000, but the bristles on the Nimbus 2001 are much longer than those on the Nimbus 2000. The stirrups on the 2001 are quite large and pivot to make your feet comfortable while sitting in different positions on the broom, whereas the stirrups on the 2000 are relatively small and are in a fixed position.
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry's Nimbus 2000 subsequently manages to be faster than Draco's Nimbus 2001, as seen in the Quidditch Match, Gryffindor vs Slytherin. This could be attributed to Harry being a better flyer than Draco due to the fact that Draco bought his way onto the team.
It is unknown if any new models of the Nimbus brooms were made after the Nimbus 2001.
