Photo: bmw
Just last week we were telling you that BMW plans to unveil a Z4 GTLM model that will race this season in the US, wearing the same livery the iconic 3.0CSL model did back in 1975 when it won the 12 Hours of Sebring race. This weekend, at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, the unveiling took place.
It was a special event as it celebrated 40 years since BMW first raced in the US and some legendary names from the company’s past and present were on the set. The most important people there were Sam Posey, Brian Redman and Hans Stuck, the people that sat behind the wheel of the number 25 car back in the ‘70s.
The story of the success of the 3.0CSL starts with none other than Bob Lutz that was the Sales and Marketing director for BMW back then. He managed to persuade Jochen Neerpasch and Martin Braungart from Ford to join the Bavarian team back in 1972 and together with brilliant engineer Paul Rosche managed to win countless races.
BMW engines were already known as being reliable and with Rosche looking over them, the performance gain went up thousandfold. At some point the 3.0CSL cars on the track had upwards of 800 HP and that meant that they were blazing fast and incredibly dangerous to drive.
In 1973 BMW won both the European Touring Car Driver’s and Manufacturer’s championships and things were looking good but then the Oil Crisis hit and the company had to focus on other areas, like developing a new plant that would build the 5 Series.
Even so, expansion to the US was important and in order to get the public’s attention, the Germans decided to enter racing events. That’s how, in March 1975 BMW was running in the IMSA Camel GT Series with two 3.0CSL cars.
A funny story explains why their cars wore the words ‘BAVARIAN MOTOR WORKS’ on the windshield. It would seem that for some reason, the American public thought that BMW stood for British Motor Works. To clear things up, the Germans took the decision of writing the meaning of the acronym in big letters on the windshield tops.
The number 24 and number 25 3.0CSL cars entered the race but only one finished. The number 24 car driven by Stuck and Posey had an early lead on the rest of the pack but had to retire due to an oil leak.
However, even though the number 25 car fell behind initially, incredible driving from Redman meant that by the end of the 12 hours, BMW was on the number one spot on the podium, starting a success story for the brand in the US.
Over the years, the US became the biggest sole market for the Bavarians until the more recent rise of China. In the near future, the biggest plant of the German group will be located in Spartanburg, with a capacity of 450,000 units per year. And to think how much Bob Lutz worked on bringing the brand across the Atlantic...
The story of the success of the 3.0CSL starts with none other than Bob Lutz that was the Sales and Marketing director for BMW back then. He managed to persuade Jochen Neerpasch and Martin Braungart from Ford to join the Bavarian team back in 1972 and together with brilliant engineer Paul Rosche managed to win countless races.
BMW engines were already known as being reliable and with Rosche looking over them, the performance gain went up thousandfold. At some point the 3.0CSL cars on the track had upwards of 800 HP and that meant that they were blazing fast and incredibly dangerous to drive.
In 1973 BMW won both the European Touring Car Driver’s and Manufacturer’s championships and things were looking good but then the Oil Crisis hit and the company had to focus on other areas, like developing a new plant that would build the 5 Series.
Even so, expansion to the US was important and in order to get the public’s attention, the Germans decided to enter racing events. That’s how, in March 1975 BMW was running in the IMSA Camel GT Series with two 3.0CSL cars.
A funny story explains why their cars wore the words ‘BAVARIAN MOTOR WORKS’ on the windshield. It would seem that for some reason, the American public thought that BMW stood for British Motor Works. To clear things up, the Germans took the decision of writing the meaning of the acronym in big letters on the windshield tops.
The number 24 and number 25 3.0CSL cars entered the race but only one finished. The number 24 car driven by Stuck and Posey had an early lead on the rest of the pack but had to retire due to an oil leak.
However, even though the number 25 car fell behind initially, incredible driving from Redman meant that by the end of the 12 hours, BMW was on the number one spot on the podium, starting a success story for the brand in the US.
Over the years, the US became the biggest sole market for the Bavarians until the more recent rise of China. In the near future, the biggest plant of the German group will be located in Spartanburg, with a capacity of 450,000 units per year. And to think how much Bob Lutz worked on bringing the brand across the Atlantic...
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