TGR Staff - 11/18/2022
BMW dominated the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) in the 1970s with its 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” winning six Drivers’ and six Manufacturers’ titles in just seven years. But in 1982 Group A regulations required a switch to the company’s new 3.5-litre 635 CSi model, the homologation of which prompted Alpina and Schnitzer Motorsport to jointly produce approximately 50 competition chassis between 1983 and 1985.
This car, chassis E24-RA1-30, was initially delivered to Austrian gentleman driver, Karl Oppitzhauser, ahead of the 1984 ETCC season. The car and diver made their race debut in the 1984 500 km Monza, in which Oppitzhauser and co-driver Mario Zanuso finished 22nd overall. The car would be campaigned by Oppizhauser over the next three seasons, going up against factory-backed teams like TWR-Jaguar, TWR-Rover, and Eggenberger Volvo teams. While they never took home any victories, they performed well in the series overall.
In mid-1986 the car was leased or sold to the Bavaria Automobiles team, which entered it in that year’s Spa 24 Hours. Driven by former Ligier Formula 1 pilot Francois Hesnault among others, the car failed to qualify for the event, ending its racing career.
In 2014, Brunn Racing acquired the car and took it through an extensive rebuild focused on retaining all major original components and preserving as much of the original patina. It later underwent a complete engine rebuild at Zig-Zag Motorsport Services in 2019 and is not recorded to have been driven since. The car comes with four sets of spare wheels and FIA paperwork for historic racing.
See the listing here.
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