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The First BMW M Car Ever Built Is Up for Sale — and It’s a Legend Hiding in Plain Sight

If you ask a room full of BMW diehards which car deserves the title of “first M car,” prepare for a debate worthy of motorsport royalty. Some will swear by the mid-engine M1. Others will cite the South African 530 MLE from 1976. But peel the license plates away from the equation, look strictly at the origins of BMW Motorsport GmbH, and the real pioneer appears: the BMW 3.0 CSL.

And not just any CSL — the first one ever built, chassis E9/R1, the very machine that kicked off the M division’s 50-year dominance in performance engineering. That car is now offered for sale.

A Prototype Turned Motorsport Milestone

The 3.0 CSL arrived in 1973 as a homologation special of the elegant E9 coupe, just one year after BMW formally created its Motorsport division. Twenty-one lightweight CSLs were constructed for racing programs, but only eleven were run by the factory-backed team. E9/R1 was the earliest completed car—BMW Motorsport’s first real test bed.

Built between late 1972 and early 1973, this car served as a development mule during some very cold winter months, with legendary drivers Hans Stuck and Harald Menzel rotating behind the wheel. If BMW Motorsport had a first classroom, this was the chalkboard.

The car is now listed by UK dealer Dylan Miles Ltd on Classic Driver, with the price—expectedly—left blank. For something this historically loaded, the number is probably easier whispered than printed.

Where the Batmobile Was Born

If the CSL is iconic, the “Batmobile” CSL is mythical. But even that legend had humble beginnings. E9/R1 was originally raced without the outrageous aero package because homologation rules prohibited BMW from running parts not yet approved by the FIA.

Once the green light came, engineers scrambled to equip the CSL with its towering rear wing, deep chin spoiler, and boxy extensions. The transformation into the legendary “Batmobile” began right here, with this exact chassis as the starting point.

A Life After Competition

After its time with various racing teams, E9/R1 was pulled from competition and passed through the hands of several BMW collectors. A meticulous restoration brought the car back to its pre-Batmobile specification, and it made a high-profile return at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

A few months later, the CSL reappeared—this time wearing the full Batmobile bodywork—at Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance at Blenheim Palace. In both forms, it drew crowds like a magnetic field.

The CSL Legacy Lives On

BMW itself paid homage to the CSL’s significance when M celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022. The ultra-exclusive, 50-unit modern 3.0 CSL—based on the M4 CSL—packed 560 horsepower, a manual gearbox, and bodywork sculpted as a modern love letter to the Batmobile. With an unofficial price of around €750,000, it became the most expensive new car BMW has ever sold.

And yet, that still may not eclipse the value of the original.

What’s a First-of-Its-Kind M Car Worth?

With a provenance that includes Motorsport GmbH’s earliest days, testing by legendary drivers, the genesis of BMW’s most famous aero kit, and a beautifully documented restoration, E9/R1 stands alone.

A modern CSL commands three-quarters of a million euros. But the car that made BMW M what it is today?
Don’t be surprised if it sells for far, far more.

After all, they only made one “first M car.” And this is it.

Source: Classic Driver

News

Volkswagen Restores Its Wildfire Survivor: Meet the Reborn Azul Bus

Earlier this year, as wildfires tore across Los Angeles and reduced entire neighborhoods to ash, one surreal photo spread across social media like a miracle in the smoke. In it, a sky-blue Volkswagen Type 2—nicknamed Azul by its owner—stood untouched in front of the charred foundations of its Malibu home. Everything around it was gone. Yet the van gleamed as if it had simply pulled in from a beach cruise.

The image, captured by Associated Press photographer Mark J. Terrill, instantly became a symbol of resilience. It also caught the attention of a few very determined people at Volkswagen of America’s Oxnard facility—the same place that maintains the company’s historic fleet.

“From the moment we first saw Azul, our goal was to ensure the vehicle’s story wasn’t erased by the fires,” says Gunnar Wynarski, a vehicle technician at the facility. “Restoring it—bringing it back to life, reuniting it with its owner, returning it to the road—that mattered more than the technical challenge. The soul of the vehicle had to survive.”

And the technical challenge, it turns out, was enormous.

A Survivor, but Not Unscathed

From the angle seen in the now-famous photo, Azul looked uncannily untouched. But once technicians got close, reality set in. The far side of the van had baked in extreme heat long enough to blister paint, melt plastics, and cook electrical components. Glass had shattered, lights had liquified, and brake drums were literally filled with wind-blown ash.

Finding replacement parts for a 1977 Volkswagen Bus isn’t exactly an afternoon errand. The team combed through inventories, sourced hard-to-find components, and rebuilt everything that had suffered fire damage—mechanical, cosmetic, and structural. Bodywork was entrusted to GE Kundensport, a shop better known for concours-level Porsche restorations, which treated Azul with the same meticulous care it gives six-figure German metal.

Reborn for Los Angeles

Now fully restored, Azul returned to public view at the Los Angeles Auto Show—its first appearance since surviving the fire. Volkswagen says the intent is not just to show off a well-executed restoration, but to offer a symbol of optimism to a city that endured another brutal wildfire season.

In a clever nod to the van’s cult following, Volkswagen partnered with vintage-inspired toy maker Candylab to build wooden replicas of Azul. The tiny blue-and-white buses are being sold at the VW stand during the show, letting fans take home a piece of the story.

More Road Ahead

Azul isn’t headed home just yet. After the auto show wraps on November 30, the van will move to the Petersen Automotive Museum, where it will remain on display from December 4 through January 11. Volkswagen has also announced an additional contribution to the California Firefighters Foundation, closing the loop on a project rooted in gratitude and community.

For a vehicle that once looked like a miracle survivor, Azul now stands as proof that even when the flames take everything, some things can be restored—body, soul, and all the stories carried in between.

Source: Volkswagen; Photo: Associated Press

News

Von der Leyen Wants an AI Overhaul—Can Europe’s Automakers Keep Up?

For years, Europe has been the world’s guardian of combustion know-how—diesel wizardry, autobahn-bred engineering, and meticulously tuned chassis dynamics. But in the race toward electrification and autonomy, the continent has watched China and the U.S. sprint ahead. Now, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that era of hesitation is over.

Her message to automakers is blunt: the future must be built in Europe, and it must be built now.

The Wake-Up Call

Europe’s electric-vehicle sector has spent the last half-decade blinking in the glare of China’s surge. BYD, NIO, and a fleet of aggressive newcomers have flooded the global EV conversation with competitive pricing, dazzling software, and volume. European brands—once the technological tastemakers—risk slipping into reaction mode rather than leading the charge.

Von der Leyen has spent weeks urging Brussels to stop the slide. The Commission is preparing to finalize its 2035 combustion ban decision, but the real dilemma is larger: double down on next-gen tech, or loosen regulations to avoid further industry strain? Meanwhile, mobility’s next wave is already forming.

A New Breed of European Cars

One prong of her vision is refreshingly small. Literally. She’s calling for a new EU class of compact, urban, affordable EVs—“E-cars”—mirroring Japan’s famously efficient Kei cars. These pint-size people-movers would give European automakers space to innovate without chasing luxury margins or SUV profits. If executed, it could reboot Europe’s struggling volume segment and offer consumers a cheap ticket into electrified mobility.

But the second prong is where the stakes get stratospheric.

The AI-First Offensive

Von der Leyen wants Europe to launch a full-scale offensive on AI-powered autonomous vehicles, asserting that autonomy isn’t a far-off dream—it’s already a reality in the U.S. and China. If Europe wants relevance, it needs skin in the game.

A Commission official put it plainly: AI could revitalize Europe’s automotive sector and improve safety across the board. Von der Leyen frames it as an “AI-first, safety-first” approach—linking industrial competitiveness to smarter, safer public roads.

For now, Europe’s AV presence lags behind American robo-taxi pilots and China’s fast-moving experiments. But Brussels sees that gap as opportunity, not defeat.

Cities as Testbeds, Streets as Laboratories

The plan doesn’t stop at building autonomous cars—it includes rewiring Europe’s urban landscape to host them. Von der Leyen revealed that over 60 Italian mayors have already signed on to help create a network of pilot cities ready for driverless mobility.

These cities would serve as continental proving grounds for homegrown autonomous platforms, giving European automakers something they desperately need: real-world deployment at scale.

Von der Leyen wants vehicles that are “made in Europe and made for European streets”—a direct swipe at dependence on foreign tech while acknowledging the need for solutions tailored to Europe’s narrow historic centers, dense populations, and varied traffic ecosystems.

Fighting for an Industry—and for Millions of Jobs

Europe’s automotive sector isn’t just a business; it’s a backbone. It employs millions across factories, suppliers, R&D centers, design studios, and transport networks. Von der Leyen warns that without aggressive innovation, Europe risks losing not only market share but livelihoods.

She argues that AI could help ease congestion, connect remote communities, and safeguard employment by keeping Europe competitive in a rapidly shifting market.

The bottom line? Europe can’t afford another “lost decade.” Too much is riding on it.

“Cars of the Future Must Be Produced in Europe”

Von der Leyen’s closing line has the cadence of a rallying cry—and maybe that’s exactly what it is. Europe once set the gold standard for automotive engineering. Now, it’s trying to prove it can lead the age of autonomy and AI as well.

Whether automakers answer the call—and whether consumers trust a European-built autonomous future—will define the next chapter of mobility.

But one thing is clear: Brussels isn’t waiting anymore. Europe wants back in the race.

Source: Reuters; Photo: Shutterstock, EPA

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