It is very well known that the automotive industry moves the hearts of millions of enthusiasts around the world, forging connections with its customers and building loyalty in a clearly passionate and sometimes magnificent way, by creating characters around some models that people connect with identify. , so much so that they usually give them nicknames or nicknames.
The first thing that comes to mind is RED PIG from AMG, a Mercedes-Benz Everyone knows that. Another very popular model is the Widow Maker, as the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo) was macabrely called, and one of the most famous is the very car we are going to talk about today: the Batmobile.
However, this is not the car from the Batman series, but the BMW 3.0 CSL. It was so extreme and its time on the tracks was so overwhelming that people started calling it the Batmobile because of its flamboyant appearance.
Let’s know the history and background
In 1968, BMW presented a beautiful coupe with the internal name E9, and it was the work of the famous Wilhelm Hofmeister, the same with the emblematic “Hofmeister angle” that practically all BMWs have, but that’s another story.
The first E9 featured a 2.8-liter inline-six engine that produced 170 horsepower. A lot for that time! However, the BMW 2800 CS was more like a comfortable Gran Turismo than a racing sports car. Due to its heavy weight, it was not in the best condition as a base for motorsport.
A year after its market launch, Alpina, the authorized BMW tuner, presented the first BMW 2800 CS, with significantly more power, that was around 250 hp for the 24-hour race in Spa.
Alpina and Schnitzer – another BMW specialist – optimized the chassis and drivetrain to turn the sports coupe into a racing touring car. However, there was no success because the competition was made up of cars that were up to 300 kg lighter.
Taking the weight penalty into account, Alpina developed a lighter model, but with a larger 3.0 liter engine, for BMW as a road car. This resulted in the BMW 3.0 CSL, which also served as a homologation model for The Rails.
The first lightweight version of BMW’s six-cylinder coupe appeared in 1971. It had the same technology as the carburettor version of the BMW 3.0 CS coupe and the same output of 180 hp, but weighed 215 kg less and offered better, significantly more dynamic handling.
The turning point came with a change in the BMW board. Bob Lutz, a passionate motorsport enthusiast, took over sales of the brand in 1972. Lutz brought in Ford racing boss Jochen Neerpasch and his top engineer. And he pushed for BMW’s return to “road car” touring.
The intention to bring all of BMW’s motorsport work under one roof ultimately led to this the founding of BMW Motorsport GmbH the same year. Neerpasch commissioned the second stage of the BMW 3.0 CSL, now with 200 hp and a six-cylinder injection engine. About a year later, the final version of the 3.0 CSL was released, which was not only visually something very special.
The BMW 3.0 CSL Batmobile was born in 1973
From 1973 onwards, the BMW 3.0 CSL was the most powerful road version of the series. The engineers achieved a more competitive character in the third development stage through increased capacity, performance, extreme lightweight construction and a striking aerodynamic package for which the BMW 3.0 CSL was nicknamed BATMOBILE due to its exaggerated aerodynamic support. The front air rails provided more stability when cornering quickly.
The wider fenders provided space for a front spoiler, which provided more downforce on the axle, and the massive rear wing provided more traction on the rear wheels. The latter had to be removed for road use as the rear wing was not legal, but when a customer bought the extreme version the spoiler was on the boot and not fitted, which was not illegal as what it did to the customer was not legal longer under the responsibility of the brand. Great trick!
The acronym CSL stood for Coupé Sport Lightweight, because the developers around Jochen Neerpasch were primarily concerned with lightness..
Almost all components of the BMW 3.0 CSL were measured, weighed and, where possible, replaced with a lighter version. The doors, tailgate and hood were made of aluminum, the lightest material used 50 years ago. Metal was also put on a diet: the awning, trunk partition, wheel trim and front and rear side walls were now made of significantly thinner sheet metal.
The rear and side windows were made of Plexiglas (Pre-Lexan). Since every gram counted, even the hood lifting mechanism was replaced with thin rods. The driver sat on lightweight seats made specifically for the 3.0 CSL.
Some things were left out from the start. The front bumper, electric windows, power steering, almost all insulating material and at the rear there was only a light plastic apron instead of a polished chrome bumper.
The advantage: better dynamics thanks to a saving of around 200 kg. With a curb weight of 1,270 kilograms, the BMW 3.0 CSL achieved an excellent power-to-weight ratio of 6.1 kg/hp, which was a technical milestone in the 1970s.
The light version of the CS coupe had 180 hp, two carburettors and a top speed of 213 km/h. The final version produced 206 hp and featured fuel injection developed by Bosch.
All versions of the E9 had an inline six-cylinder engine. The displacement increased from 2,985 cc to 3,003 cc and reached a peak of 3,153 cc in 1973.
The Batmobile has a four-speed manual transmission and a top speed of 220 km/h.
hard to beat
In May 1972, a major development occurred in the world of motorsport with the founding of BMW Motorsport GmbH, whose goal was quite simple: rapid success. The fact that the BMW 3.0 CSL, developed shortly afterwards, would dominate the touring car championship for years exceeded all expectations.
The new team boss Jochen Neerpasch brought in a group of racing drivers who would play a key role in making the M the fastest letter in the world.
Already in 1973, the colors red, purple and blue dominated the world of motorsport, especially on the chassis of the CSL coupé, which crossed the finish line of the 6-hour race at the Nürburgring very quickly with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Chris Amon at the wheel. Ahead of the competition after 42 laps. In a second BMW 3.0 CSL from Alpina, Niki Lauda set a new lap record of 8:21.3 in the same race. And that was just the beginning: until 1979, no one could prevent the BMW 3.0 CSL from winning six European championships.
The world’s first BMW Art Car
From the racetrack to the studio and back again – the BMW 3.0 CSL set many milestones. In 1975, the artist Alexander Calder created the first art car in history with a CSL and thus laid the foundation for the beginning of the BMW Art Cars Collection.
The initiative initially came not from BMW, but from a French racing driver, Hervé Poulain, who was a good friend of Carder and suggested the crazy idea of taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Batmobile was the first competition art car in the well-known history of global motorsports.
A year later the second BMW 3.0 CSL Art Car arrived. The painter Frank Stella created the world’s fastest work of art of his time. Stella’s CSL produced 750 hp and when designing it, the artist forewent his usual free work and was inspired by the technological aura of the racing coupe. The result was a black and white grid that was reminiscent of oversized graph paper in its precision. Every shape of the chassis parts is rubbed through this graphic paper so that every curve and every projection can be formally recorded and precisely described.
Since then, some of the world’s greatest artists have designed the BMW automobiles of their time, finding very different forms of expression. The BMW Art Cars Collection includes works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, AR Penck, David Hockney Holzer, Jeff Koons, John Baldessari and Cao Fei, among others. BMW Art Cars reflect the cultural development of art, design and technology.
Legendary and rare
The iconic design, the motorsport successes and the low production numbers of the final version have made the BMW 3.0 CSL a sought-after classic car with absolute rarity value.
Between 1973 and 1975 only 167 examples left the factory.
