Bats in the Belfry

The reason the Bats came to be was to homologate the displacement increase to 3.2 liters (meaning race motors could now be up to 3.5 liters), and even more importantly to homologate the aero bits (rear wing and roof hoop). Since this was an "evolutionary" change only 100 examples were required to be built. There were 110 series one Bats built- the first 71 were converted from existing unsold CSLs (VINs 2275430 - 2275500) and the remaining 39 were new. All were Chamonix or Polaris, and all LHD.
 
I am as sure as the BMW M Registry is. That is my source. If you
Have contradicting information, I will be happy to forward it to Regan and Alex for correction. I await your response.
 
It's a bit hard to be sure about these things, not just because we are talking 40 years ago. Many BMW factory records have been lost along the way. Any new or different information is very welcome!
 
I have heard the same thing, but it was the last "25" and not 39, but who knows. I am not saying what I heard is the Gospel, but it came from a pretty well known source.
 
Uh oh, now the REAL experts are paying attention! Yannick, I thought all series 1 Bats were Polaris or Chamonix and the special colors were only in series 2.
 
Series 1 Bats: The Hirschmann Hitronic Auta 3800 A story etc

Hi Ron and congrats to 2275525.

I can see that you have mounted my favourite antenna Hirschmann (compared to the earlier pics I have seen on -525). This Hirschmann model was called Hitronic Auta 3800 A. Looking into the original Hirschmann installation guide for this model, it was recommended to mount it either on the roof (front middle) or as wing-mounted.

What is interesting is that pretty many of the series 1 Bats have this Antenna. Either as roof-mounted or on the boot lid (centre).

It's pretty rare to see this Hirschmann model wing-mounted, on a Bat. But don't worry, it's period correct. I can mention that the car-in-law 2275527, has the same Hirschmann antenna, but roof-mounted.

Most of the series 1 Bats (110 cars produced) were Polaris. All the other ones, except one client reuqest, were Chamonix. Therefore, one could say they exist in three different colors.

Yes, it's correct that BMW took some unsold CSLs "from the storage" and converted them due to the new Bat-specs. That's why the series 1 Bats are starting at 2275430. 100 cars were needed + 10 cars as a safety margin, including at least one test car (2275436). The last ones, of the series 1 Bat, were new and built directly with the new specs.

I don't remember if the "new ones" were the last 25 or 39 (of the total 110), but I think I have a document about this in my CSL archive. Also remember that the VIN range up to 2276000 was reserved for CSLs.

For different reasons (e.g. low demand) this VIN range was not fully used. Later on, the 21 factory race-Bats were assigned within this range, starting with the first one being 2276000, the second one 2275999, the third 2275998 etc.

Cheers

Henric
 
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