This is the #43 Gösser BMW 3.5 CSL that ran at Le Mans in 1976. Sadly it did not finish due to fire, but it looked damn good doing it.
The #43 car (chassis #2275982) was operated by the BMW GmbH factory team, and driven expertly (until the fire, that is) by Austrian Dieter Quester, Belgian Alain Peltier, and German Albrecht Krebs. This particular chassis seems to have been a bit unlucky, scoring a DNF at the Silverstone 6H race in May ‘76 due to a piston, and that unfortunate fire in June at Le Mans before finally making it to the end of a race at the Dijon 6H race in September, finishing 6th. Its moment of glory finally came in May of 1977, winning the famed Mezinárodní automobilové závody Havířov in former Czechoslovakia. By this time it had lost its BMW factory affiliation in favor of the Austrian Memphis Team International.
But back to the 1976 Le Mans version. It’s a 1:43 IXO that my father scored for me at BMW Welt in Munich when he was there for a Hittitology conference last summer. I had to wait an agonizing four months before finally finding out what it was, as I had just asked him to bring me back something cool. And it is very cool!
I love the weird color combo of M stripes + green, which somehoe just seems to work. The boxed flares are money. The taped up headlights are amazing. The little windshield wiper was what finally convinced me that IXO (real IXO, not that watered-down Altaya nonsense) provides excellent detailing for the money, and inspired me to get the Toyota TS010 I showed recently. The crazy wing is, well, crazy, the tampos are really nicely done, the wheels are on POINT. Yeah, I’m kinda excited about it. :D
Oh, and it almost rolls freely!! Panning shots are a maybe, but I will definitely give it a shot.
I took these photos last night in front of my front door, where the concrete steps and porch light combine nicely to put the car in a warm light.
Enjoy your Tuesdays! Viva La LaLD!
Sources:
http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Le_Mans-1976-06-13.html?sort=Results