1972 BMW 3.0 CSL

The Bavarian automotive manufacturer has a long-standing reputation for engineering excellence beginning in 1916, initially focusing on the construction and development of aircraft engines, BMW announced their first production motorcycle in 1923 and motorcar production followed shortly after in 1928.

The origins of BMW and its motorsport success can be traced all the way back to this period on both two wheels and four; Works rider Ernst Henne achieved a staggering seventy six land speed records between 1929-1937 aboard supercharged BMW competition motorcycles and the exquisite 328 sports car was equally successful scoring outright wins at the 1937 RAC TT, 1938 Alpine Rally and RAC TT, class win at Le Mans in 1939 and victory at the 1940 Mille Miglia!!

There was no surprise that interest and development in Motorsport would continue post war and BMW continued to construct and develop race winning machines throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, often run by privateer teams such as Alpina and Schnitzer, whose on track success motivated interest at BMW to create their own factory racing division.

When Bob Lutz joined BMW from Adam Opel AG in January 1972 as Sales and Marketing director, he immediately focused his efforts on establishing a factory competition team whose success would inevitably aid the sale of BMW production road cars.

The managing director for the new Motorsport division was appointed, former Porsche works driver Jochen Neerpasch, who was headhunted from the Ford Racing department in Cologne alongside ex Ford technical ace Martin Braungart, responsible for development, production and entries of the BMW factory racing cars.

For over fifty years ‘BMW Motorsport GmbH’ has set the benchmark for high performance racing and production sports cars with their ‘M Power’ range. The very first car they built in 1972 was this very car, chassis E9/R1, the first ‘BMW M’ car! It is also the first of twenty one ‘Werks’ CSL racing cars constructed, of which just eleven of those cars were actually raced by the factory team, the other ten cars were sold and in some instances as incomplete lightweight CSL bodyshells to other race teams.

During the early 1970s Ford were dominating the circuit with their Cologne Capri racers but this would all change in 1973 following the introduction of the ‘Werks’ CSL racers. Chassis E9/R1 was built during the winter of 1972/3 as the test and development car for the team and was used to develop the Batmobile Aero Kit prior to its homologation in July 1973.

The car was extensively tested over the winter of ‘72 by Hans Stuck and Harald Menzel at Paul Ricard and Hockenheim prior to the start of the new ETCC and DRM championships and once testing had been completed Motorsport built three more cars (Chassis 2275999, 998 and 997) to be used in the ETCC.

E9/R1 was taken to the first ETCC race at Monza as the spare/test car, then used in the DRM Championship driven by works drivers Stuck and Menzel.

The CSL ran the beginning of the 1973 season without any aerodynamic aids, the initial FIA regulations stipulated that BMW must produce 1000 road going CSL models in order to homologate use of the CSL in competition with the homologation of their ‘Batmobile’ modifications sanctioned on July 1st and were comprised of high downforce front and rear spoilers, fins on the bodywork and new 3.5L engine.

On 30th June at the DRM Mainz-Finthen race E9/R1 qualified without the Batmobile Kit and at midnight the FIA homologated its use and the factory engineers immediately took the Werks cars to the local BMW dealership and worked throughout the night to upgrade both with Batmobile bodywork and 3.5L engines, cutting it so fine that one of the mechanics drove it back the circuit on the road just before the race was due to start!!

Stuck showed great promise on race day with car going very well but the CSL suffered water pump failure putting it out of the race, however it wasn’t long before teammate Menzel would bring the car to victory at the Nurburgring for the support race of the German Grand Prix on 5th August, scoring further outright wins in E9/R1 for the following round at Kassel-Calden and ADAC-500 km Eifelpokalrennen at the Nordschleife on September 2nd.

At the end of the 1973 season Motorsport GmbH sold E9/R1 and sister CSL (2275997) to American racing outfit Hurtig Team Libra for their use in the forthcoming 1974 IMSA championship and the history file that accompanies E9/R1 contains the original sales invoice from BMW Motorsport GmbH to Hurtig Team Libra for a princely DM 99.000!

The Hurtig Libra team achieved encouraging results the 74’ IMSA with John Buffums piloting E9/R1 and his team mate Andy Petery in the sister car, there is no doubt that their performance which had a positive influence on BMW Motorsport GmbH decision to compete as a works team the following year in the 1975 IMSA Championship.

At the end of the 1974 season both cars were sold to Daniel Muniz in Mexico City and later retired from active competition. In the 1980s E9/R1 joined the collection of noted BMW collector Richard Conway before it was acquired by the current private owner in the mid 1990s, also a noted BMW collector and world leading expert on BMW competition cars.

Over the past decade E9/R1 has benefitted from expert restoration with the absolute focus on preserving the originality of this hugely significant car. Having not been seen in public for over three decades, E9/R1 was first demonstrated at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed following restoration where it ran up the hill in pre-homologation 1973 specification.

In August 2025 E9/R1 was entered into the Salon Prive Concours D’Elegance at Blenheim Palace, it should be noted this is the first time the car has ever been shown at a concours event, displayed proudly in full Batmobile specification and rightfully awarded with the highly prestigious ‘Most Iconic Car’ award, a fitting testament to the historical significance of the car and quality of its restoration.

Without question one of the most significant BMWs of all time, E9/R1 is the original BMW ‘M’ car and the first CSL that was fitted and used to develop the iconic ‘Batmobile’ kit, the first of twenty-one Werks CSL and one of just eleven cars raced by the factory team, offered in exceptional condition with superb provenance and known ownership from new.

The experience and development gained from this car subsequently lead to BMW’s domination of the European Touring Car Championship with a staggering six championship wins, Nurburgring lap record, Le Mans class win and the creation of the first and second BMW Art cars!

E9/R1 is a highly eligible and guaranteed entry to some of the greatest international historic events and is offered for sale publicly for the first time ever. Simply put, the ‘holy grail’ of BMW motorcars.