Or maybe the title should be “The Ultimate Driving Spaceship”, or something equally descriptive. This is one of BMW Motorsports’ most iconic racer cars. While it’s been described by drivers as one of the least fun cars to drive, demanding constant attention, and punishing you if you lapse in focus; it truly is one of the coolest cars ever to see the track.

Why “batmobile”? That should be fairly obvious. This was the first project built entirely by BMW Motorsport entirely, and resulted in like many of the best race cars, a homologation special race car. This was BMW’s way of getting it’s 3.2 (340bhp) and 3.5 (430bhp) liter engines certified for racing.

This particular car is wearing the Alpina wheels from the CSL 3.0 Group2 cars.

This shot gives you the overall profile of the car and you start to get an impression of just how wide this car really is to accommodate the massive rubber on those substantially dished wheels.

Fuel fillers feel more like aircraft grade!

The interior of this car was in great condition considering it’s now nearly 40 years old. Granted, most if it is likely not original, but even the vinyl dash and gauges, which certainly looked period correct, were in surprisingly good condition. Worn, but good.

Inside and out, the details are what make race cars truly cool to poke around…

The rondel on the hood bears the marks of many high-speed runs!

Here’s a closer look at those wide flares pulling in air for the brakes, I believe. I wish I had poked my head in there to see if there was a oil or diff cooler hidden in there, but judging by the amount of space between the front of the wheel I would be surprised.

Every little detail and aspect of this car is as cool today as it was in the 1970s when these cars ran. From the BMW M colours, to the rondels on the headlights, to the slats on the hood and the chrome trim!

This particular car really is in excellent condition for its vintage, and it’s raced too!

What’s better than a side-exit exhaust? Nothing. Exactly.

Fixtures like the rear lights and trim are all in excellent condition as well, it must be a nightmare trying to locate parts for these cars.

At least the crazy wide body parts are largely fiberglass! This is an amazing car to see in person, hopefully I’ll get to see it run at a CASC event this year and catch some video and motion shots of it.

If you’ve made it this far, here’s a little gift to close off the post and reward your curiosity! Two great videos of the 3.0CSL in action: