What's all this about?
Forty years ago, BMW North America began and - in the same year - the 3.0 CSL Batmobile stormed the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) series in the US, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring and a number of other races, including Laguna Seca, on its way to the manufacturers' championship in its debut year. So BMW thought it would celebrate with the incredible machine you can see in these images.
Isn't that the 3.0 CSL Hommage it revealed earlier this year?
Yes, it is, but this is the 3.0 CSL Hommage R, with the R presumably standing for racing. Clad in the livery of that IMSA CSL and with an interior that brings driver and machine closer together than ever before, the Hommage R will be on display at the Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach, a mere 15 miles down the road from the Laguna Seca circuit, at the show taking place this month.
So that's why the track map is shown on the Hommage R's dashboard, then?
Indeed so. Seca's circuit layout is illuminated through wood, a throwback to the interior of the 1970s' CSLs and the only part of the Hommage R's interior that isn't made from carbon fibre. So advanced is it in there that information about the current race status is relayed to the driver's helmet visor, making for the ultimate in heads-up display. The race suit even illuminates as the relevant data is passed from the steering column to the helmet via the driver's arms. It's like Tron inside, it really is.
Which engine powers the Hommage R?
No word on the mechanicals as yet but one image does show a straight-six motor under that beautiful bonnet, with the words 'BMW TwinPower Turbo clearly evident. That means the 3.0 in the R's name is likely to be accurate, although whether it's the 326hp 'regular' motor from the current 340i or the M3/M4's more potent 431hp lump is unclear.
And will BMW ever build either the 3.0 CSL Hommage or the R model?
Probably not. But we can dream, can't we?
Matt Robinson - 14 Aug 2015