BMW channels retro feel with the new BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage

BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage

Tapping into vintage design to evoke a nostalgic feel among their target consumer base seems to be a marketing strategy for automakers these days. Whether it is a real of perceived is not for us to debate here, so let’s just get into the latest vehicle that clearly falls into this “trend”: the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage.

Revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, this car embodies BMW Group’s desire to remind current and future loyalists of the brand about its rich history.

There is no better way to do this than to create this automotive work of art, a homage by the BMW Design Team to 3.0 CSL, “a timeless classic and iconic BMW Coupé from the 1970s,” BMW said in a statement.

But the new 3.0 CSL Hommage is also dramatically different. One of the major aspects in which it is so is a body made from CFRP and the bevy of 21st century features (which BMW clearly had to include,  since releasing an obsolete car would, quite frankly, be dumb).

So what exactly is this “CSL” – which stands for “Coupé Sport Leichtbau” (coupé, sport, lightweight) – all about?

The BMW Group describes the original as an “aluminium bonnet, boot and wings, Plexiglas windows and equipment rigorously pared down to the bare essentials.” Also pointed out is that “the old BMW 3.0 CSL tipped the scales around 200 kg lighter than its sibling model, the BMW 3.0 CS” and was naturally race track-oriented.

“The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage celebrates many of those characteristic features, but without copying them,” the German automaker said in a statement.

Well, that’s not hard to figure out even from a quick glance at this new Beamer. The six-cylinder engine features eBoost, the headlights and tail-lights feature LED technology and the body design is modern and in line with new BMW models design language.

The subtle influence of tradition in an updated interpretation: after all, that is what BMW is after with the the 3.0 CSL Hommage. Mission accomplished.


Photo Credit: BMW

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