One to Buy: 62,000 mile Chamonix White 1972 BMW E9 3.0 CSL
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Considering just how unbelievably ugly most BMWs from the modern era have become, it may surprise some of our younger readers that, from the late 1960s through to the early 2000s, the Munich firm’s design department was the envy of the world.
Thanks to a combination of superb build quality, class-leading performance and on-track success, BMW’s elegantly styled products helped establish the company among the world’s premium auto builders.
Instrumental in this transition had been the E9-based 3.0 CSL which BMW’s new Motorsport department created to become the premier Touring Car racer of its day.
Based on the handsome E9 Coupe launched in 1968, the tuned and lightened CSL broke cover at Geneva in March ‘71. As expected, in Group 2 racing trim it went on to dominate and the CSL even spawned a radical Group 5 version long after production had ended which challenged the epic Porsche 935 for World Sportscar Championship honours.
To satisfy customers who wanted the ultimate road-going BMW but with most of the CSL’s normally absent luxuries reinstated, the optional City Pack was available as fitted to most of the 500 cars exported to the UK.
The City Pack included power steering, a heated rear window, additional sound deadening, velour carpet, a normal locking bonnet and boot lid and a full toolkit. Standard front and rear bumpers were also part of the bundle as was a fully undersealed chassis which was considered vital for Britain’s salty winter roads.
Elsewhere, the CSL’s normally laminated windscreen and lightweight side glass were switched to standard glass and the rear side windows now opened. Standard CS/CSi suspension settings were adopted including the re-fitting of anti-rolls bars which had been absent on the CSL.
Perhaps most significantly, City Pack CSLs were also fitted with bonnets, doors and boot lids fabricated from steel instead of aluminium.
Unfortunately, owing to a long period of under appreciation, many UK-bound CSLs rusted into oblivion, but currently on offer at The Hairpin Company in Compton Bassett, Wilthire, is a remarkably well preserved example with just 62,000 miles on the clock.
First registered on October 17th 1972, this handsome Chamonix White machine was retained by Essex BMW main dealer, Bates of Maldon, until July 1975. At this point the car was sold to the first of several private custodians, all of whom evidently cherished the car.
Thanks to its most recent owner, the CSL (which importantly retains its original log book) was stripped down and rebuilt at a cost in excess of £60,000 which has resulted in one of the best examples of its type to exist.
