{"id":300173,"date":"2020-12-15T23:32:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T04:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/?p=300173"},"modified":"2024-12-06T03:50:34","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T03:50:34","slug":"1974-bmw-3-5-csl-imsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/1974-bmw-3-5-csl-imsa\/","title":{"rendered":"Winning 1974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA \u201cBatmobile\u201d to be Auctioned"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Stratas Auctions will be auctioning a\u00a01974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA<\/strong>, one of only 5 ever produced, the overall winner of the 1975 12 Hours of Sebring, and the first CSL to win a Group 5 race in the world championships for makes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

In 1970, Alpina<\/a>\u00a0developed the 3.0 CSL, a new, lightweight version of the exclusive BMW 2800 CS Coupe.\u00a0Alpina\u00a0designed the 3.0 CSL<\/a> specifically for racing, with it going into production\u00a0in\u00a0August 1971.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was fitted with a more powerful engine, as well as a lighter 5-speed transmission. It also had more powerful brakes, wider wheels, aerodynamic parts, a sport-tuned suspension, and an aluminum hood, doors, and\u00a0trunk lid. For the 1973 season,\u00a0it was homologated as a racer in Group 2.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

With Joseph\u00a0Neerpasch’s<\/a>\u00a0leadership, BMW created its own in-house racing division, BMW Motorsport. With the new in-house racing division, BMW Motorsport took over the responsibility from Alpina in developing the CSL.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/Q180dRN5QhA<\/div>\r\n
Story of BMW Motorsport – Source: BMWUSAMotorsport<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Some of the changes they made were upgrading the 200hp two-valve M30 inline six-cylinder into\u00a0a 330hp M38.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1973, the engine became the M52, and the capacity was upgraded to 3.5-liters with a new output of 370hp.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the same year, they homologated the aerodynamic parts that gave the CSL its \u201cBatmobile\u201d nickname. The parts include a deep front air dam, an air guide in the place where the roof is connected to the rear window, and a large rear spoiler. The fins on the front fenders, which were wider on the back\u00a0to\u00a0fit\u00a0the wider tires, was also one of those parts.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While they were developing the M49 engine, BMW Motorsport division was also working on producing a series of CSL race cars. 21 units were taken from the production line at the Karmann plant in Osnabr\u00fcck and transported to Munich.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The shells were then installed with a roll cage, purpose-built motorsport engine, racing suspension, as well as other accessories that will make them race-ready.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The registry of all the cars made at BMW Motorsport have been meticulously recorded in the\u00a0Kommissionsbuch\u00a0and the chassis were produced in descending order starting from chassis number 2 276 000 going down to 2 275 980. Chassis #987 was one of the only four CSLs that were made with IMSA GTO specification.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1975, the CSLs started out in Group 4 configuration<\/a>. Chassis #987 and #988 were\u00a0the first two cars that BMW Motorsport raced in the US. They both participated at the Daytona and Sebring in the 1975 season.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The fledgling BMW of North America started operating in November 1974 as it took over from independent importer, Max Hoffman<\/a>. The BMW IMSA\u00a0campaign was used as marketing for the newly established BMW NA and to increase brand awareness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In early 1975, NASCAR legend Bobby Allison<\/a> leased a shop space to BMW Motorsport. Just two days before BMW was due for their first test at Daytona, they arrived in Hueytown, Alabama to an empty metal building.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The\u00a0team\u00a0had to work double-time as the Daytona 24 Hour<\/a> was scheduled two weeks\u00a0later, on\u00a0February 2, 1975.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Chassis #988 was driven by American Sam Posey and Hans Stuck<\/a> wearing racing #24.\u00a0Chassis #987 was driven by Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson and British driver\u00a0Brian\u00a0Redman\u00a0under racing #25.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Although Peterson had raced at Daytona only once before, he was able to record a lap time of 1:56.710, which helped put #987 in second place on the grid. Unfortunately,\u00a0despite their best efforts, both #987 and #988 were tagged DNFs in their first try at Daytona.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

12 Hour race at Sebring<\/a> was scheduled on March 21st, and with less than three weeks left, the team started coming up with a plan that would help them, based on what they experienced at Daytona.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Redman\u00a0shared their strategy at the time, and it was\u00a0straightforward, as their goal was to\u00a0simply\u00a0\u201cbreak\u00a0ze\u00a0Porsches!\u201d Stuck\u00a0and Posey were given orders by Jochen\u00a0Neerpasch\u00a0to race as quickly as they could in number 988, while\u00a0Redman\u00a0and\u00a0Allan\u00a0Moffat\u00a0role were to take it easy, driving number 987 at 8,500rpm rather than at its 9,000rpm redline.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The strategy\u00a0was a success as #988 forced their archrival Peter Gregg\/Hurley Haywood in the\u00a0Brumos\u00a0Porsche<\/a> to retire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Since #988 was also out of the race, all the attention was on #987. When the race ended, #987 had a huge lead over the rest of the cars, although it was also suffering from a failing wheel bearing and a dead alternator.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

15 minutes before the checkered flag, its rear axle temperature was already off the gauge.\u00a0Redman\u00a0pushed the struggling #987 to the checkered flag after being behind the wheel for 9 hours. His nearest competitors were three laps behind.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a>
\r\n
Overall winner of the 1975 12 Hours of Sebring<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In only their second race, the BMW team scored their first major victory on US soil. Munich sent over a telegram from BMW chairman Eberhard von\u00a0Kuenheim\u00a0and sales chief Hans Erdman\u00a0Sch\u00f6nbeck\u00a0congratulating them on their victory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The next months, however, would prove to be challenging for the new team.\u00a0At Road Atlanta<\/a>, #988 crashed at testing while #987 had a rear hub failure sending Sam Posey into the barricades which forced the #987 to retire for the 1975 IMSA season.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1976, BMW Motorsport was back. #987 was seen at Daytona in its Motorsport livery sporting a \u201cHermetite\u201d across the top of its windshield. Joining it was #988 and another CSL. #987 was driven by John Fitzpatrick and Tom Walkinshaw<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Halfway through the race, with Fitzpatrick in second, electrical problems forced him to go into the pits. #987 was able to rejoin the race, but by they were not able to recover completing only 457 laps and placing 15th. #987 was then sent back to Munich and was then converted to Group 5 specification.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

#987 was given the latest M49 engine, larger spoilers, and a new\u00a0Hermetite\u00a0livery reflecting its sponsorship. In March 1976, #987 made its debut at the World Championship of Makes\u2019 at its season opener at Mugello.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fitzpatrick and Walkinshaw would again find themselves behind the wheel, as it finished 6th in Division 3, and 8th overall. At\u00a0Vallelunga, the next race venue, they got a 4th overall finish, and was 3rd in class.\u00a0A month afterwards, they were able to snatch their first Group 5 victory\u00a0at the World Championship for Makes at Silverstone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Later in the season, they had another win at\u00a0Zeltweg, allowing BMW to have a 2nd place overall for the 1976 season, a mere 10 points behind their arch-rival, Porsche<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1976 was to be the last season for the CSL as a BMW Motorsports racer. It did however enter the South African 1,000 Kyalami race. The race was not part of the regular season, but the race paid the\u00a0transportation costs as well as\u00a0the\u00a0start money to\u00a0assure a strong field. Unfortunately, after developing a fuel leak on lap 99, #987 was forced to retire, also ending its international racing career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When the CSLs were retired, BMW\u00a0were not keeping its old race cars. After keeping one IMSA-spec CSL, #984, for show and display, they sold the rest of the CSLs to privateers. After the South Africa race, CSL #987 was put on sale and it was bought by\u00a0Vasek\u00a0Polak, a Hermosa Beach BMW\u00a0and Porsche\u00a0dealer and racer.\u00a0Polak\u00a0bought both #987 and\u00a0#988 although he only raced them occasionally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The cars were raced until 1978, where they were then placed in storage for almost 20 years.\u00a0Henry Schmitt then approached\u00a0Polak\u00a0about the possibility of buying one. Schmitt and\u00a0Polak\u00a0negotiated the details about the purchase of #987 along with a supply of spares, shortly before\u00a0Polak\u2019s\u00a0passing in 1997 from an auto\u00a0accident. His estate honored the deal, and in June 1997, ownership of the CSL 2 275 987 was transferred to Schmitt.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1997, the racing history of the cars were not widely known. The race numbers of the cars were constantly swapped, and the chassis numbers were not being tracked as they are currently doing, so tracing the true heritage of the cars was a bit tricky. Schmitt assumed his car was just another Motorsport-built IMSA CSL and that it had no real winning history, he used the car for racing in 1998.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 2005, Schmitt decided to improve the performance of the CSL. He utilized the expertise of Bill Watson\u2019s Road Rockets at Sears Point. His goal was to update the car as much as possible, but still have it within the vintage racing rules.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

They removed the original engine and set it aside for preservation. They then used an M30 cylinder block from a first-generation 7 Series to replace it. The new engine used the original components from the original engine so that the engine bay would have a look that is practically identical to the original engine, except that the cam cover had \u201cBMW M Power\u201d cast on it, unlike the M49.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Other changes to the BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA included new seats, \u00a0a new\u00a0fire control system\u00a0was installed,\u00a0the\u00a0safety equipment\u00a0was\u00a0updated,\u00a0new air conditioning, and new BBS wheels were also fitted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It\u00a0was not\u00a0until 2016 that BMW confirmed the BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA #987 as the 1975 Sebring winning racecar. It was eventually confirmed that #985, which was the one\u00a0formerly\u00a0recorded as the winner, did not arrive in the US until May of that year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The\u00a0Kommissionsbuch\u00a0was reviewed, and it was eventually verified that the race cars were built in descending order, confirming that the higher numbered cars were\u00a0actually the\u00a0older of the CSL race cars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In February 2017, the corrected history was published in the \u00a0Bimmer magazine written by Tom\u00a0Pucinsky\u00a0from BMW of North America. Schmitt has always had a suspicion that the BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA was actively raced in 1975 and that it was not simply a spare.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA has been restored to its as-race configuration in its 1975 Group 5 bodywork. It is fitted with the BMW Motorsport\u2019s IMSA livery, instead of the\u00a0Hermetite\u00a0colors that it had during the World Championship for Makes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

More information regarding the auction of this unique 1974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA can be found at Stratas Auction<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

[Source: Stratas Auction]<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stratas Auctions will be auctioning a\u00a01974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA, one of only 5 ever produced, the overall winner of the 1975 12 Hours of Sebring, and the first CSL to win a Group 5 race in the world championships for makes. It was fitted with a more powerful engine, as well as a lighter 5-speed transmission. It also had more powerful brakes, wider wheels, aerodynamic parts, a sport-tuned suspension, and an aluminum hood, doors, and\u00a0trunk lid. For the 1973 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":792906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10112,226,11577],"tags":[7366,228,17338,19711],"class_list":["post-300173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-auctions","category-bmw","category-auction-action","tag-auctions","tag-bmw","tag-bmw-at-auction","tag-bmw-3-5-csl"],"yoast_head":"\nWinning 1974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA \u201cBatmobile\u201d to be Auctioned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 1974 BMW 3.5 CSL IMSA, one of only 5 ever produced and the overall winner of the 1975 12 Hours of Sebring in detail [Review]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/1974-bmw-3-5-csl-imsa\/\" \/>\n<meta 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