batmobile
batmobile

Holy BMW, it’s the Batmobile!

Riley Riley

BMW’s CSL coupe dominated the European Touring Car Championship back in the 70s.

Formula One stars like Niki Lauda, Chris Amon, James Hunt and Jacky Ickx battled it out with arch rival Ford. 

The season was well underway when the famous ‘Batmobile’ wing kit appeared, resulting in a dominant performance on debut at the Nurburgring Six Hours. 

Slashing an impressive 14 seconds off the lap time, the winged wonders finished one-two-three, effectively ending Ford’s chances of taking the title that season.

The sight of Hans Stuck airborne at the Nurburgring’s famous Flugplatz is indelibly etched in the memory of every motor sport fan. 

This fabulous recreation of BMW’s mighty CSL ‘Batmobile’ racer has been professionally built to resemble the 1975 Le Mans works cars, sparing no expense and with great attention to detail.

Based on a 3.0 CS Automatic, the build specification is impressive.

The classic 3.5-litre in-line six engine under the bonnet is an S38 24-valve unit from the M635, built by Ludwig Finaur, who previously worked with Schnitzer and Frank Gardner.

With dry sump lubrication it reportedly develops an impressive 313kW of power or 420bhp in the old money.

The transmission is Getrag’s five-speed 280 gearbox, while suspension is Bilstein coil overs, the brakes use Performance Friction calipers and rotors and the car comes with custom-made 15-inch BBS race wheels.

Other features of note include the 120-litre fuel cell, integral roll cage, Sparco race seats and Motorsport wiring loom.

Painted as a tribute to Alexander Calder’s iconic Art Car entered at Le Mans in 1975, the CSL has since been wrapped in BMW Motorsport’s livery as used in the IMSA Camel GT series and the bodywork features the wider fibreglass flares first used in 1975.

Previously road registered in Queensland and CAMS-approved, the owner has invested around $350,000 in the project and the car has appeared at numerous shows, including Motorclassica in 2015 where it sat alongside BMW’s 3.0 CSL Hommage R.

The car will be sold unregistered and is expected to attract bids in the $180,000-$220,000 range when it goes under the hammer in Sydney on May 27 at Shannons Sydney Classic which is being held in conjunction with the Hot Road & Custom Auto Expo at Homebush.

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