BMW’s Bold Bavarian Batmobile

Back in the day motorsport rules were placed in such a way that many of the cars taking part were only legitimate if the general public could buy something that was pretty close to the car tearing around the track. This led to manufacturers wishing to take part unleashing their designers on their standard cars, overhauling everything from engine and suspension to styling and aerodynamics in order to meet the regulations. Touring car, rallying and GT championship’s demands gave birth to mid-engine hatchbacks, race bred saloon cars and a whole host of limited edition creations that used the race tuned technology and power to propel your average family car in ways you’d never thought possible. One of the powerhouses of the era was the BMW M division, the motorsport arm of Bavaria’s finest with a point to prove over their German rivals from Mercedes and Audi. Their range of family saloons provided a perfect chance to unleash their know-how on the world of European Touring cars and show what their M division were capable of.

Now, being from Germany they of course wanted to make sure they did a proper job of it so the road going version created in order to compete came in the form of the outlandish 3 series 3.0 CSL. Introduced in 1972, the sensible Germans went a little crazy with this one and the bonkers race derived engine, suspension, steering and handling fitted to a sensible saloon were nowhere near as mad as the styling that accompanied it. The aerodynamic additions and tweaks to the car were so ahead of their time for a road car, looking more like something out of a comic book and quickly ensured that the CSL became affectionately known as the ‘Batmobile’. The larger air vents accompanied by short fins running over the top of wheel arches gave the design a whole new purposeful appearance, finished off by a huge spoiler at the rear leading off the roof and flowing up from the edges of the car.  The mega-saloon was so racing focused that the bodywork was made of thinner steel and the doors, bonnet and boot lids were made of lighter aluminium, saving over 200KG from the weight of the standard car. The limited edition model was so successful on the track and so coveted off it that today it is one of BMW’s most iconic cars and still carries the ‘Batmobile’ nickname everywhere it goes.

Now, messing with tradition and history is a dangerous thing to do, especially when it comes to reviving iconic cars such as the CSL. BMW have made a phenomenal success of the new MINI, Fiat have done the same with their new 500 and VW, well they at least revived the Beetle, although you can’t say it has been as much of a success as the other two. BMW dabbled with a form of their M3 saloon labelled with the CSL moniker in 2004 with a limited run lighter more track focussed version of their existing super-saloon. The way it drove earned the revamped CSL many fans but although it followed the same principles of the original car, the styling changes that went along with it were very disappointing, a bit more ‘Alfred’ than ‘Batmobile’. Plainly if BMW was to re-create a motoring icon to excite their fans they would have to go back to the drawing board, and find a prestigious stage to show it to car fanatics.

The original CSL was a thing of beauty, a design classic familiar to all car enthusiasts and fans of the German brand, and nothing says design classic and car enthusiasts more than a classic car gathering.  So BMW decided to show their hard work off at not just any car gathering, but one of the most prestigious and well known car shows in the world; the Concorso d’Eleganza, an event sponsored by the car maker themselves. The event takes place at the Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como and displays the finest automobiles throughout history, an unrivaled collection of classic designs and rare exotic cars with price tags running into the tens of millions. Clearly something special would be needed to impress collectors of this standard and nobility. They didn’t disappoint.

The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage is what they unveiled, a 21^st century take on the legendary ‘Batmobile’ with even more vents, spoilers and outlandish bodywork than the original version. The styling cues are instantly recognisable from the 70’s car with the fascination for weight saving and driver focus even more prominent than before. The carbon fibre bodywork, or more specifically carbon reinforced plastic, combined with the race car minimalist interior ensure that the CSL lives up to its ‘Coupé Sport Leichtbau’ headline. Extended wheel arches rise up over the side of the car and seem to sprout from the muscular bonnet creating a wing shaped aerodynamic styling cue that dominates the front view of the car. This combined with aerodynamic aids of vents and oversized spoilers make the new version appear to have even more exaggerated styling than the original, and the familiar look of the current 3 and 4 series cars are still evident yet more aggressive and angular. There are styling cues of their futuristic i8 in the front lights and aero duct laden front bumper and then there are the brake lights; a future design classic all on their own. More than a hint of i8 in appearance and following the shape of the rear of the car, flowing up through the curvaceous lines of the enormous spoiler, the thin LED lights provoke instant desirability and a sign that every design detail has been thoroughly styled to perfection to ensure that the CSL Hommage doesn’t disappoint.

BMW have said the 3.0 CSL Hommage isn’t destined for production, a disappointment to many car enthusiasts and drivers who want to recapture the 70’s glory days of the original CSL. But maybe that’s the point, BMW know how important their original car was and the impact it made to not only the racing world, but the design direction of not only their future cars but special edition cars for so many other manufacturers. A new CSL would always be compared to the original model and maybe they would rather it retained its iconic status without being replaced or reincarnated for the sake of creating a limited edition model. Hopefully it will show a design direction of future BMW’s and a return to outlandish no holds barred styling of their most racing focused models, but at least it gives us reason to covet the original road going ‘Batmobile’ once more, if only finding an original and being able to buy one was an easy task.