Ultimatecarpage.com update (05-10-06)

[Wouter Melissen]

Letter combinations have always been a very popular car naming method, but only some mean anything and only very few achieve a legendary status. GTO, TR and RS are among those that immediately spring to mind. Right up there is BMW's CSL for Coupe Sport Leicht, an abbreviation first used for the 3.0 CSL. This was also the first product of BMW's highly acclaimed Motorsport department. The ultra light (hence the name) CSL was available to the public to meet 1000 example production requirements set for homologation for the highly popular European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Among the parts to be homologated for racing was an elaborate spoiler kit that would give the car its famous 'Batmobile' nick-name. In the ETCC, the various versions of the CSL raced faced strong opposition from Ford's Capris and Escorts, but nonetheless managed to take the championship six times between 1973 and 1979. A few years ago, BMW revived the CSL name for a special lightweight version of the M3, but the three letters will be forever associated with the elegant and very fast coupe of 1970s.
In today's update we pay tribute to the BMW that made the clear statement that the German manufacturer had overcome all the problems that dogged them in the late 1950s and early 1960s. First of the two cars spotlighted is the road-going 3.0 CSL, which comes complete with the Batmobile style spoiler kit. Second is the competition 3.0 CSL Group 2 in the specification that dominated the ETCC from 1976 to 1979.

Enjoy the links:

BMW 3.0 CSL
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2784

BMW 3.0 CSL Group 2
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2785

[McReis]

Excellent stuff!!!!

[henk4]

I always take this car as a design example how a greenhouse should be proportioned vis-a-vis the body. This is pure elegance compared to the tanks we call sportscars today

[McReis]

Originally Posted by henk4

I always take this car as a design example how a greenhouse should be proportioned vis-a-vis the body. This is pure elegance compared to the tanks we call sportscars today

Yes, in fact it's what comes to mind immediately when you first look at it. The upper part of the body is all glass with pencil thin pilars. However, I'm not sure security issues would keep this kind of design acceptable today.
That's why classics are still the cars to die for/in.

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by henk4

I always take this car as a design example how a greenhouse should be proportioned vis-a-vis the body. This is pure elegance compared to the tanks we call sportscars today

The Panoz Esperante GTR-1 didn't follow any of that...