For the latest episode of its tour through the archive, BMW Group Classic takes a look at the legendary 3.0 CSL. Known as the Batmobile thanks to its massive rear wing, the race car seen in the video below is actually a reproduction.
Built this century, the car was designed to be shown off at auto shows and vintage motorsport events without running the risk of damaging a historically important museum piece. As the hosts of this video point out, the way to tell them apart is by the tow hook up front, though that might be hard to do on track.
The original 3.0 CSL was designed to go racing in the early ’70s and homologation rules meant that the 1,000 had to be built for roadgoing purposes (BMW actually built 1,265 in all). These lived up to the L in their name by being extremely lightweight. They used an aluminum alloy hood, trunk lid, and doors while also getting rid of the side window glass in favor of Perspex.
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Early 3.0 CSLs also live up to the rest of the name, by making use of a 3.0-liter engine. As time went on, though, the engine grew in size and in 1973 a 3.2-liter model was released making 203 hp and 211 lb-ft of torque.
You can tell these apart from the rest thanks to their “Batmobile” aero package with the big wing (others just get a little trunk spoiler). According to the video, 167 of these were made with just 57 of them getting a wing with a third vertical spar in the middle of the rear wing, making them the rarest of all 3.0 CSLs.
The car was also the first to feature BMW’s tricolor red, purple, and blue stripe scheme. The result of a failed deal with Texaco, the official line on the livery is now that the blue stands for BMW, the red stands for motorsport, and the purple in the middle is the combination of the two.