Originally posted by Edward Higginbotham in 2017
Each year, we host 50 of the country's fastest track cars at Virginia International Raceway for the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge.
Back in 2017, one entry definitely stood out to officials and competitors alike: Billy Glavin's 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL. Crowds gathered and gawked as Billy's CSL slowly made its way …
Is this the same CSL clone that ran the Pittsburgh Vintage GP this summer?
That is the stuff of dreams!
Wow - just wow. Somewhere in my boxes of old car magazines I have an issue of Road&Track with an article about the battles between the BMW CSLs and Ford Capris racing in Europe. Now I have to go dig it out...
In 1978 or so, my dad ended up with a 3.0 CSL racecar. He was co-owner of a German car repair and parts business in South Texas, when one of his customers called him about “some BMW” that was in the back of the semi and trailer he just bought at a sheriff auction for his grocery business. It was a roller, due to an engine letting go in testing at Road Atlanta, and had some light front end damage from the resulting spin in it’s own oil.
Somehow, the semi and racecar ended up in a vacant field near the Mexican border, where it stayed for a few days before it was confiscated. My dad ended up buying the car, and it’s 4 sets of BBS 3 piece wheels, for $2,500.
After looking through several parts catalogs over the next few months, my dad came to the conclusion it was gonna be around $15,000 just for the engine pieces alone, and it would still need a transmission and cosmetics. Luckily, before too much longer, Alf Gebhardt, who was running a 3.0L in IMSA and SCCA, called up and bought it sight unseen, for a tidy little profit for my dad.
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