This bonkers BMW Batmobile could be yours next month

Built to race, styled for superheroes

From massive rear wings to double-wide wheel arches, the not-so-humble body kit has long been transforming street cars into angular racers for the road.

While your average Fiesta wears bolted-on bits from the internet, though, occasionally a manufacturer has an official stab at aero add-ons.

Such is the case with the BMW 3.0 CSL: built to go rallying and sold in limited numbers in the ’70s to qualify the model for competition, in its final guise the monstrous machine shipped to buyers with a body kit to end all body kits.

Soon dubbed the ‘Batmobile’, this was homologation at its maddest – and you can buy one next month for an estimated £210,000. Here’s its story.

Bred for the track

BMW launched the 3.0 CSL in 1972 as a saloon car with one purpose: to go racing in the European Touring Car Championship.

Child of the '70s

It was derived from the 3.0 CS and 3.0 CSi, both of which had launched in 1971 equipped with 3-litre six-cylinder engines.

Same plant, more power

BMW’s new racing machine utilised that same engine, albeit revised to produce 206bhp on the road and more than 300bhp on the track.

Featherweight follow-up

It was also made a substantial 136kg lighter than its predecessors, through the replacement of the side glass with Perspex and the use of aluminium for the doors, bonnet and boot. The ‘L’ in CSL did stand for ‘light’, after all.

Rebored for more

Come 1973, the engine was rebored again to reach 3.2-litre capacity and that now-iconic ‘Batmobile’ aerodynamic package – developed at Stuttgart University – was added to complement those all-important stickers.

Clipped wings

The package featured a bevy of aero refinements, including a huge chin spoiler and a monstrous rear wing that was illegal on the road in Germany – so it was left in the boot for post-purchase installation.

Starting with success

Did the modifications work? On track, BMW’s Batmobiles toppled Ford’s previously dominant RS2600s, with Toine Hezemans taking the 1973 European Touring Car Championship crown in a 3.0 CSL.

Five in a row

Nor did the success end there: BMW’s new racing saloon would go on to win a remarkable five straight European Touring Car Championship titles from 1975 to ’79.

Endurance champ

A 3.0 CSL even took a class win at Le Mans in 1973, demonstrating that the machine’s performance wasn’t limited to saloon car sprints.

Regulation road cars

Even though it was built for the track, though, homologation requirements meant that BMW had to produce a certain number of the model for the road.

Original leftie

Some 1265 were eventually produced, including the one pictured: an original, left-hand drive example finished in 1973 and delivered new to the UK.

Brought up in Blighty

Chassis 2275537 is one of 765 3.0 CSLs built in left-hand drive spec and one of only 500 believed to have been shipped to the UK.

Laid up and left

In 1975 it was bought by the current owner’s father, driven for five years then parked up in his workshop with just 35,600 miles on the clock.

Picking up the pieces

In the intervening years, it was gradually dismantled with a view to eventually being restored, but it wasn’t until 2018 that the car was finally returned to its former glory.

Sorted from top to bottom

It was delivered in parts earlier this year to Classic Restorations in Scotland to be rebuilt and restored, and received a comprehensive mechanical overhaul, covering the engine, brakes and suspension.

Fresh carpets

Much of the bodywork was replenished, too, with the rear spoiler stripped, repaired and partially repainted, while the interior was also fully re-upholstered with original BMW material.

Up for grabs

The best news? It’s going to auction on 5 October at Bonhams’ Zoute sale – and, as a result of all of that work, it’s in incredible condition.

Big money Batmobile

The bad news? That restoration also means the price tag will be pretty steep: the lower estimate is a hefty £210,000, with a suggestion it could go as high as £270,000 with the right bidders in the room.

One to watch

Batmobile or not, that’s a little out of our price range – but at least we get to ogle this mad machine (and all its wings) before it goes under the hammer in Belgium.