Description
Author: James Taylor, ISBN: 9781847978462, Hardback, Pubished in 2014, 192 pages
A definitive guide to BMW's high-performance classic coupes, tracking their rising success from 1965 to 1989. After the doldrums of the post-war years, BMW had felt the need for a flagship grand touring coupe. The 507 of the late 1950s and the 3200 CS that replaced it in the early 1960s may not have made much money for the company, but they were a reminder of its aspirations. Then in 1964, a striking new coupe emerged. The 2000 and 2000 CS, with their feisty 2-litre 4-cylinder engines, were the affordable foundation on which BMW was able to build its next generation of coupes - and what formidable machines those were!
- BMW's hand-built coupes of the 1950s and the first volume-built models
- The mainstream E9 range, with new engines and revised front-end styling
- Racing success for the `Batmobile' CSLs, including six wins at the European Touring Car Championship from 1973 to 1979
- Engineering and development of the luxury E241 range
- Tuned and modified coupes, including the rare custom convertibles
Synopsis
MW 's first high-performance coupes were already pounding the German Autobahn network before the 1930s ended. But it was in the 1960s that the type came of age, and BMW Classic Coupes celebrates these magnificent machines, which announced the company's return to vibrant health after the doldrums of the post-war years.
Even in its darkest hours. BMW had felt the need for a flagship grand touring coupe. The 507 of the late 1950s and the 3200 CS that replaced it in the early 1960s may not have made much money for the company, but they were a reminder of its aspirations. Then in 19611, a striking new coupe emerged from the building blocks of the latest saloon car range. The 2000 and 2000 CS, with their feisty 2-litre 11-cylinder engines, were the affordable foundation on which BMW was able to build its next generation of coupes - and what formidable machines those were!
Tidying the front end of the CS and adding the latest high-performance 6-cylinder engines was only the start. By the end of the 1960s, BMW was taking these cars racing as well, and the early 1970s saw the emergence of the legendary lightweight CSL models, which culminated in the astonishing 'Batmobile' racers (and their roadgoing equivalents). Six European Touring Car titles in the 1970s were more than enough to secure these cars, the E9 range, a special place in automotive history.
But times were changing New safety regulations had a huge impact on the design of the Erf models that replaced them. Although these cars perhaps had a less glamorous career on the tracks, they had an even greater impact on BMW's image as a builder of top-guality, technologically advanced grand touring coupes Once the range had been topped off from 19811 by a special high-performance derivative from the Motorsport division, the M635 CSi, an E211 coupe was most definitely one of the cars to be seen in.
Today, the E9s and E211s attract as much interest from enthusiast owners as they did from small boys when they were new BMW Classic Coupes is a book for those who remember them from those times, and for those who wish they had been there.
