Price: £179,995 | Year: 1972 | Engine: 3 litre straight six, 200 BHP
Feast your eyes on an automotive masterpiece. This is a BMW 3.0 CSL, Munich's super-lightweight 1970s sports car, built to go racing. There's nothing superfluous here, the sinuous lines stripped back so that only the essentials remain.
The clue is in the last letter of the name. CSL is "Coupe Sport Leicht", German for "light". Doors, boot lid and bonnet are in lightweight aluminium, highly unusual for a car of its time. Steel panels use the thinnest variety available. Less weight equals more speed.
Polaris silver is the glacial finish to this 1972 example, one of just 500 right hand drive CSLs made in a strictly limited production run by Karmann, the renowned German coach builders. BMW had to make the car available to the public so it could take to the track. This it did with great success, CSLs winning the European Touring Car Championship six times.
The car you see here may just be the finest RHD CSL there is. The BMW has been restored to near new condition after a full nut and bolt rebuild over two years. Painstaking work has resulted in a car that is now in Concours condition. Details are key. The interior headlining and carpets, for example, are bespoke to the CSL. Both have been replaced with the correct items.
The Scheel seats, identical to those installed by Karmann, are brand new. The cabin oozes 1970s ambience, with wood trim and leather rimmed three spoke steering wheel. Under the bonnet the potent three litre engine has been fully rebuilt and detailed.
The CSL is for sale at Fast Classics. The same money could buy you a boxfresh supercar. This BMW is in a different league: an as-new piece of 1970s sports car history, ready for its next adventure.
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