I must have stalled it five times, a combination of unfamiliarity and nerves making my left foot feel particularly useless. This 3.0 CSL had a good reason to make me nervous. One of the real Batmobiles, this is a real Group 4 CSL, and not just any Group 4 CSL. In 1975, this very car won the 12 Hours of Sebring driven by Sam Posey, Brian Redman, Allan Moffat, and Hans Stuck. Quite the lineup.
BMW’s 1975 factory drivers with a 3.0 CSL. From left to right, Sam Posey, Hans Stuck, Brian Redman, and Ronnie Peterson.On first glance, it makes an impression. It’s low and wide, a front air dam running nearly to the pavement and huge fender flares hiding impossibly wide bias-ply slicks. The rear deck is topped by a monster of a wing, one that appears to be equal parts table and aero device.
My first few laps were trepidatious. I know Laguna Seca fairly well, but the car was something else entirely. I let a sea of 935s and prototypes pass as I got up to speed. And that’s when the M49 first invaded my brain, a symphony of manic noise, both induction and exhaust, that runs all the way up to 8500 rpm. That harmonic issue at 7200 rpm that could grenade the engine was never even a thought, it accelerates right through the pain without flinching, like an Olympian.
Of course, once I was comfortable was when it all wrong. On the uphill run from Laguna’s tight turn five to the fast turn six, I lost drive, a cacophony of bad mechanical sounds replacing the M49’s song. Like it said in the book, I shut it down and stopped immediately. I also shouted a bunch of obscenities, which weren’t recommended in the car’s instruction manual but made me feel better.
The 3.0 CSL is a car steeped in BMW lore. Just 1265 of the lightweight version of the E9-chassis coupe were built. It’s flat out gorgeous, but not in an overt way. It’s a subtle design with a lot of attention paid to minor details that creates a gentlemanly icon.
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