BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R.

In August every year car enthusiasts from all over the world gather for the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach to immerse themselves in the fascination of both automotive treasures from years gone by and pioneering studies for times to come. The BMW Group has come up with something very special this year with the world premiere of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R – a car that celebrates both the 40th anniversary of BMW in North America and the heady racing success of the BMW 3.0 CSL in 1975.

1975 was the year the Bavarian manufacturer founded BMW of North America, its first official sales company outside Europe. It was also the year in which BMW Motorsport made its debut in motor racing stateside – in the IMSA series – with a specially made BMW 3.0 CSL. Just a few weeks later BMW recorded its first, historic triumph at the 12 Hours of Sebring. This was followed by a succession of victories, including one at Laguna Seca, just 15 miles from Pebble Beach. BMW’s rookie year duly culminated in the white BMW 3.0 CSL, decked out in eye-catching BMW Motorsport livery, winning the manufacturers’ championship at the first attempt.

This success, coupled with the car’s striking design and the “Bavarian Motor Works” legend emblazoned across the sun protection film on the windscreen and rear window, announced the BMW brand’s arrival in racing-mad North America with a bang.

“Motor racing is all about the ability of cars to mesmerise, about the unbridled joy of driving,” explains Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design. “And as such it represents the heartbeat of BMW. Back in 1975, as today, winning races came down to how man and machine could work together. Technical innovations have taken the effectiveness of this partnership to ever great heights. And with the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R we’re aiming to show how much closer the driver and car can grow in the future.”

Given the aim of achieving the best possible fusion of driver and car, the driver was the logical starting point for the design of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R. For the seamless integration of the driver into the car, the designers extrapolated the principle of driver focus beyond the geometric form of the interior. In the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R, the idea of centring attention on the driver begins with his immediate surroundings. This new approach led the designers first to the driver’s helmet, race suit and seat before moving onto the lines and surfaces of the interior.

This way of doing things changes the nature of conventional interior functions. As the layer of interaction closest to the driver, the helmet visor assumes the functions of a display and projects situation-based information such as the car’s speed, gear engaged and engine revs into the driver’s direct field of view. The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R thus enhances the driver’s direct perception. The idea of the Head-Up Display, which has already proved its effectiveness in series-produced BMW models by flagging up driving-related information without distracting the driver, is therefore expressed in a whole new way. “Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel” is the name of the game – i.e. enabling the driver to concentrate fully on the job of driving the car.

As well as helping him to do his job, the driver’s race suit (a classical design by Puma®) visually expresses the connection between the driver and the car. If both the driver’s hands are on the steering wheel, illuminated piping integrated into the sleeves of the suit shows the progress of information – from the shift impulse display, for example – out of the steering column over the driver’s arms and into his visor.

The side-section design of the large carbon-fibre seat shells reflects the anatomy of the seated driver, thus providing maximum support in any driving situation. At the same time, the seats ensure the driver’s body has the best possible connection with the car, giving him a physical feel for it with almost his whole body, in any situation, and thus allowing him to react faster and more effectively. The seat shells follow a rising diagonal path rearwards, a line extended behind the seats into the rear by a structural carbon-fibre element that increases the torsional rigidity of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R. The white seat surfaces with fanned-out quilting, integrated into the seat shell, mimic the design of the driver’s race suit, while BMW Motorsport’s signature stripes on the six-point safety harness add an extra splash of colour.