CSL by GS

[Philippe db]

Hi guys,

Spotted this car at the Brussels Interclassic yesterday.

This was a first for me , never heard of this tuning company GS, standing for Gerhard Schneider.

The history is also amazing. Left the factory as a stock Fjord CSL, bought and tuned by GS, transformed by its next owner to a Bat and now changed back to a GS!!

And a link to the sellers site

https://scuderia-sportiva-colonia.de/en/cars/142-bmw-3-0-csl-gs-tuning

 

[Strato102]

What a great car! There were lesser known tuners like GS Tuning, Heidegger, Martini, etc. that made the scene along with Alpina and Schnitzer. Great to see this. Thank you!

 

[Stevehose]

Very cool car but the carbs aren't period correct.

 

[Keshav]

....and I’m guessing that in the excitement of offereing such a rare car, they missed a digit in the VIN ...... the VIN should be 2211721 and not 211721. Trivial but important.

 

[HB Chris]

And a black engine bay, seems inconsistent with a competent restoration.

 

[Philippe db]

And a black engine bay, seems inconsistent with a competent restoration.

Hi Chris,

For what it's worth. I overheard the seller talking to some visitors and apparently both the black engine bay as well as the black inside of the hood were typical GS features.

Also have a look at the last picture I uploaded. It shows two pages of the original Auto Motor and Sport test. On the right page the central engine picture is the GS's.

Another nice feature was a Petri like steering wheel with central GS logo. All black as well. Sadly to much window reflection top make a picture.

 

[Keshav]

Another nice feature was a Petri like steering wheel with central GS logo. All black as wel

Hi Philippe,
Petri did infact make a few black, 38cm Csl wheels exactly like the ‘silver’ ones along with the longer 4 ring hubs. Would match the GS since all their chrome parts were black. Now I’m wondering if it was maybe GS that convinced Petri to make a few black wheels........ since no other tuner offered a black Petri. Interesting theory
Most would think that it’s a standard Petri painted black after the fact, but I know off a couple of original black ones (I have one too).

 

[Philippe db]

Hi Keshav,

Yep I think it was exactly that steering wheel but with a completely different hub and the black GS lettering on the horn button.

 

[Keshav]

Yes Phillipe, would be very interesting to see the hub and horn button. The Petri’s ‘always’ (everything with our coupes is possible) had the standard Petri hub and possibly a momo type hornbutton with a GS logo (Petri only ever used the BMW hornbutton, the Alpina Petri hb I posted is an afterthought )
Maybe they even used a Momo 153/ 154 hub with a adapter ring to fit the Petri bolt pattern?
None of what I’m saying are facts......just loud thoughts

 

[Keshav]

Here’s a ‘large’ assortment of Momo horn buttons.......
Finding a GS one like one of these would sound quite possible........ again......without a clear pic of what the GS is sporting, it’s all just speculation
and last but not least, it could be a black Momo wheel too. See pics

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-seite:3/momo-hupenknopfe/k0

 

[Philippe db]

Just for the record. Learned the asking price for the GS today: €400.ooo.

 

[afishe]

Oh god, that thing just looks awesome... Makes me want to go with blacked out trim on mine, I wont, but it makes me want to...

 

[shanon]

Uber kewl....and..exclusive

I think the surviving cars from the article should gather and do a re-test....and bring some others.....a then and now....

A larger sampling of e9 hot rods...hhhmmm

 

[Markos]

The GS also had a ZF close ratio 5spd. The same one that Schnitzer and Koepchen had. The Alpina ZF has a different fear set.

 

[Philippe db]

Thanks for posting these details Markos.

Looking at the Schnitzer I had to rub my eyes twice. Amazing 290HP in those days!!!!!! To put this a little in perspective, a Porsche 911 Turbo in 1989 had 300HP

Are there any know surviving Schnitzer road cars?

 

[Keshav]

What fascinates me is the attention to detail. Check out the oil cap with the valve clearances

 

[Keshav]

This write up is in German but definately worth translating specially the Green monster part.
Freaky looking car compared to the civilized Csl versions
http://www.cs-zone.com/model/Art. Die 5 MuskeltiereZwei.htm

 

[Philippe db]

Hi Keshav,

Big thanks for the extra info. Great read.

So if I understand it correctly the Schnitzer never was street legal and only could participate in the test with a special TUV certification.

Still wondering if this was the only one produced?

 

[Keshav]

Hi Philippe,
I believe there were upto 3 cars produced but there is no real proof I can produce........ I liked the part of needing two guys to get it started, the smell of race oil, the high oil consumption and ofcourse the intense body style. All very cool aspects of a semi race car for the street......

But what’s also facinating is the Alpina Csl with KF and open trumpets....... similar to the race cars! That’s a one of a kind too and the staggered tyres which were unknown with E9‘s back then.

 

[Keshav]

Check out the ZF gear ratio of the cars too. The Alpina Csl is facinating in that the 5th gear is longer than the others. Thus the top speed advantage?