BMW

3.0 CSL

The BMW 3.0 CSL was created to homologate BMW's beautiful E9 coupe for the European Touring Car Championship, and it became the car that launched the BMW Motorsport division as a force in racing. The letters stood for Coupe Sport Leichtbau, German for lightweight, and BMW took the elegant 3.0 CS road coupe and put it on a serious diet: the BMW 3.0 CSL used aluminium for the bonnet, boot lid and doors, thinner-gauge steel for the body, perspex side windows and stripped-out trim, shaving precious weight to gain a competitive edge. Power came from BMW's silky straight-six, initially 3.0 litres and later enlarged to 3,153 cc so the racing version could be classed above three litres and run a bigger 3.5-litre engine. The most famous BMW 3.0 CSL of all is the 1973 "Batmobile", named for its wild aerodynamic package of a deep front air dam, fins along the front wings, a roof spoiler and a towering rear wing, parts so radical they were initially banned from German roads and shipped in the boot for owners to fit themselves. On track the BMW 3.0 CSL was utterly dominant, winning the European Touring Car Championship six times during the 1970s and becoming the first of the legendary BMW Art Cars. Only around 1,265 examples of the BMW 3.0 CSL were built, of which just 167 wore the full Batmobile aero kit, and today it ranks among the most desirable and valuable classic BMWs ever made.