BMW News

Reaction to BMW’s latest concept car, the BMW 3.0CSL Hommage, as been pretty much as expected, from “I hate it!” to “I’m not sure,” to “I love it!”

Reaction from some who expressed displeasure seemed to focus on the concept’s Golf Yellow color, even though Golf Yellow was a factory paint color for the original BMW 3.0CSL. Back in the 1970s, some of BMW’s color choices created controversy, and that tradition continues to this day.

Two very talented rendering artists have jumped on the BMW 3.0CSL Hommage, one to show us what it might look like as a racecar, and one vision of the vehicle as a production model.

Most BMW enthusiasts, however, are consistent in their appreciation for a white BMW with BMW Motorsport accents in the familiar red, light blue, dark blue pattern, as well as the later variant red, light blue, violet motif. Many of us would think a LEGO brick was beautiful if it came in Motorsport colors.

Rendering artist Jon Sibal obviously has an appreciation for the BMW M colors and decided to show us how the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage might appear if it was dressed up like the original BMW 3.0CSL endurance racing cars of the ‘70s, complete with racing wheels.

Another criticism of the BMW 3.0CSL Hommage concept car has been its extreme styling with the huge kidney grilles and large air intake and spoiler protruding far ahead of the rest of the car. Critics also wondered how hard it would be to keep the car clean with the hood and whatever those things are that stick out of it, and even if the hood could be opened at all.

Tobias Hornof is another rendering artist who offers us what the BMW 3.0CSL Hommage might look like if it were further developed into a production car. Hornoff likes the idea of slightly smaller grilles and a conventional hood without vents. The side mirrors are more traditional and in the rear, Hornof has treated the taillights and wing differently than on the concept car.

Would the BMW 3.0CSL Hommage concept car be more acceptable in M colors? Could the radical design be tamed to appeal to well-heeled buyers looking for something special and German for their garage? We may never know, since many of BMW’s concept cars never evolve into production vehicles. But then again, sometimes they do.—Scott Blazey

[Photos courtesy of Jon Sibal and Tobias Hornof via BMWBLOG.]