The legendary paint finish is back!
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There are paint finishes that have left their mark on cars and will be remembered forever. These certainly include the JPS colors of Lotus, the Marlboro liveries of McLaren, the Martini stripes of Porsche and Lancia, for example, and certainly the BMW motorsport colors of the seventies.
Now BMW Motorsport and BMW North America are celebrating their return to Sebring. Exactly 40 years ago, BMW achieved its first Sebring 12 Hours victory there with the 3.0 CSL.
To commemorate this triumph, the two Z4 GTLMs will start at the Sebring International Raceway with the traditional BMW design. Car number 25 will wear the colors of the victorious BMW 3.0 CSL from 1975.
BMW of North America presented the car to the public for the first time at a ceremonial unveiling as part of the "Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance" in northern Florida. Many of the successful protagonists from back then also took the opportunity to attend the presentation. 40 years after the historic triumph, the winners from back then, Brian Redman (US), Sam Posey (US) and Hans-Joachim Stuck (DE), came together again on Amelia Island. Jochen Neerpasch, the first Managing Director of BMW Motorsport GmbH, and BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt were also there as guests. They all witnessed at close quarters how current BMW Team RLL driver Bill Auberlen (US) completed the first show laps in the BMW Z4 GTLM in its anniversary livery in front of an enthusiastic audience.
1975 went down as an important year in the history of BMW in North America: "BMW of North America" was founded, followed just a few days later by the historic first triumph with the BMW 3.0 CSL at Sebring.
After finishing second and fourth in the GTLM class at the 2015 season opener in Daytona (US), BMW Team RLL is now looking to add another chapter to the BMW success story in this classic race this year.
The design was not only popular in the USA, BMW also competed with these colors in the European Touring Car Championship. The pictures of the duels between the white-blue-red BMWs and the blue-white Capris are legendary. People like Ronnie Peterson battled against Jochen Mass, Hans Joachim Stuck and Niki Lauda. And there was usually only one wheel on the ground - that was the time of true motorsport.
When BMW returned to F1 (2006 with the BMW Sauber F1 Team), the typical BMW livery was always somewhat missed. Now it is finally back and proves that even a 40-year-old design is still effective today.
