1972 BMW 3.0 CSL

The European Touring Car Championship of the early 1970s encouraged performance manufacturers to build some rare and exciting homologation specials, notably Ford with their Escort and Capri derivatives and BMW with their CSL. Standing for 'Coupe Sport Leicht', the BMW 3.0 CSL was indeed light - having an aluminium bonnet, boot and doors combined with less interior trim, saving a valuable 300lbs in excess weight and with the standard 3.0 ltr. straight six giving 206 bhp the cars were very quick. The 1,039 CSLs produced by BMW are now highly collectable and sought after, particularly the rare original right-hand drive factory produced cars, such as this one.

Manufactured in October 1972 and registered to its first owner, a Mr Colin Trayte of P.B. Sharpe & Sons Ltd, Cornwall in 1973, this striking 3.0 CSL is presented in its original colour of Taiga Green. Used as a company car for the next 9 years, this Munich express was purchased by its second owner, one Brigadier T. Sampson CBE of Bodmin in 1982, who was to own the car until 2002, although it was off the road for the last 8 years of his ownership.

Our vendor was lucky enough to fulfil his dreams in 2002 when he purchased this car in a rather poor condition. Work was immediately undertaken by classic BMW specialists Cooks Ferry Engineering, to repair most of the problem areas and to make the car roadworthy and reliable. Included in the history file are all the bills from the aforementioned specialist, and well-known parts specialists Jaymic. Our vendor then used the car as his primary transport for the next seven years without any problems.

In October 2010, he decided that the car deserved to be restored properly, and entrusted Titan Motor Services of Colchester to handle the project, with Walloth Nesch and Jaymic supplying new OEM panels to ensure the best possible body finish. As before, all invoices are logged within the history file in date order (totalling some £30,000), as well as a full photographic record of all work carried out, including the sills and other "hidden' areas all of which have now been remedied. The work was eventually completed in March 2014, and only around 1,500 miles have been covered since.

Most recently, the engine has been taken out of the car and detailed, along with the engine bay itself, which was re-painted by the Master Technicians at BMW Park Lane Service Department. This process involved media blasting and re-zincing all of the original nuts, bolts and hose clips to retain originality, and as a result, the engine bay now looks absolutely stunning.

The interior is completely original, apart from an aftermarket steering wheel (original included in the sale) as it has aged particularly well, and so adds to the charm of this car, which, while not being concours, is a fantastic example of money well been spent in key areas - notably the body! The car also retains a full complement of tools in the bootlid.

Under our vendors fastidious ownership, every invoice is logged in a folder, old MoTs are present, and even an original and thought to be rare BMW 3.0 CS / CSi / CSL brochure is in situ.

Being the 9th 3.0 CSL of only 500 cars originally supplied in RHD, and with the odometer currently reading a believed to be genuine 64,000 miles, "TES 2K' is worthy of serious collector consideration in a market where many of its adversaries of the period, such as the Porsche 911 2.7 RS, are now fetching huge sums of money.