1976 BMW 3.5 CSL ‘Gosser Beer’ Group 5 Werks Racer

We are thrilled to offer the venerable ‘Gosser Beer’ 1976 BMW 3.5 ‘Werks’ CSL, one of the most iconic liveried competition cars of all time and one of just four 3.5 CSL competition cars constructed by BMW Motorsport GmbH to Group 5 specification in 1976

BMW Motorsport had dominated touring car racing throughout the 1970s and 1976 would be the last year that the factory racing department ran CSL’s before the introduction and focus on the E21 320 Group 5 racers for the forthcoming 1977 season

Porsche had launched their new Turbocharged ‘934’ model for the 76’ season and BMW faced stiff competition throughout the ‘World Championship of Makes’ (world sportscar championship)

Campaigned by Schnitzer Motorsport as a ‘Werks’ entry on behalf of BMW Motorsport, the Gosser Beer CSL was piloted by Dieter Quester, Albrecht Krebs, Ronnie Peterson, Gunnar Nilsson and Brian Redman and was instantly recognisable by the vibrant green livery, powered by the mighty flame spitting 490 BHP 24 Valve M49 six cylinder Motorsport engine

This car played a hugely instrumental role in the success of BMW during the 1976 season and was the most successful of four Group 5 CSL racers, achieving outright victory at the 1000kms of Nurburgring and 1000kms of Osterreichring

This success had a hugely positive impact on BMW championship points that helped the German manufacturer to achieve second overall in the Championship at the end of the season, beaten only by the turbocharged Works Porsche

It should also be noted this is the only BMW CSL in the period to have been driven by two current Formula One drivers of the time, namely Ronnie Peterson and Gunner Nilsson

The ‘Gosser Beer’ CSL will enjoy its UK concours debut at Salon Prive London and remains one of the most recognisable BMW liveries of all time and the most extreme variant of the uber desirable and rare ‘Werks’ CSL models