If you take 100 car enthusiasts and put them in a room to discuss a vehicle’s merits, both its aesthetics and its performance prowess, 100 percent of the time, you would have differing opinions and thoughts. Some would love it, some would hate it, some would be “meh” about it either way. But, there are a handful of cars out there that 99.9 percent of enthusiasts would all agree upon. The BMW CSL 3.0 is one of those cars (I’m almost sure the 0.1 percent who won’t agree with this statement are right here on this site) that’s achieved legendary iconic status and is generally accepted as one of BMW’s finest cars to date. It’s essentially a racecar that’s street legal.
The final version of the homologated racecar, when equipped with the race-ready aerodynamics package, complete with a picnic table bench rear wing (the wing came in the trunk as they weren’t legal for German road use at the time), was so extreme looking for its time that it earned the nickname, ‘The Batmobile’.
Some loved it, others hated it. Typical remarks about an all-new BMW from the faithful.
One thing we know for sure is that BMW never lets a concept go to waste. Aside from the 328 Hommage, in recent memory I believe all of the company's concepts have delivered something that came to production at some point or another.
And if I were to hazard an educated guess, I'd say that the 3.0 CSL Hommage is showing us the all-new face of the upcoming BMW 6-Series. Given that the 3.0 CS was the vehicle
that started the "shark look" and essentially birthed the 6'er, I can't think why this concept would give rise to an all-new 6. While the all-new 7 is locked and loaded, we've seen the next-gen 5-Series undergoing developmental testing, the timing seems about right to start thinking about an all-new, big BMW coupe.
What say you, Spies? Is the 3.0 CSL Hommage a preview of the next-gen 6-Series?
Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este
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