1

Gateway Relay Vol IV, No. 12 St Louis Sports Car Council August 2015

Council News & Notes Believe it or not, StLSCC is on

the verge of starting its fifth year. As noted in the masthead above, this issue is the last of volume twelve. The initial Gateway Relay came out in September 2011, roughly four months following the first exploratory communications between several local car clubs concerning the formation of some sort of car council.

Over the intervening years a few clubs have come and gone but our core group has remained pretty constant. Overall, we’re going strong and who knows, we might pick up a few more affili-ates in the future.

Change subjects, club web pages and newsletters continue to pro-vide the primary source for the photos seen in the featured events section of the Relay. If your club has an event but doesn’t have a web page or means of posting current activity photos online, send a few of the digitals to us and we’ll get them out via the Relay.

Now, on into fall in the great Mid-west. This is generally the part of the year where the events calen-dar starts to thin out a bit. Still, for all clubs and owners of sports/special interest vehicles, fall also means some truly incredible driv-ing weather. The StLSCC staff looks forward to plenty of good club runs and events as we work toward the end of the year.

In Print

It’s pushing September, which means it’s time for the 2016 models (speaking of, does anyone out there remember the old Look magazine annual new car is-sue? We have a couple from the mid-60s in the StLSCC automotive reference library).

September’s Road & Track lists the BMW i8 and Jaguar F-Type coupe

(Continued on page 4)

Note: Some club events restrict participation to club members only, primarily for na-tional/chapter insurance reasons. If interested in joining in on a drive or other event, we recommend you contact the club’s event coordinator in advance for details.

Up & Coming 21 Aug 2015—Friday Night at the Sonic, Kirkwood (Big Bend and Kirkwood),

sponsored by the Outsiders Car Club. Every Friday through October, 5-10 PM, all welcome without attitude, no alcohol, burnouts. Primarily hot rods and American heavy metal but LBCs and other foreign cars are making inroads.

22 Aug 2015—Gateway VCOA tour of Fast Lane Classic Cars, 10:30 AM, followed by lunch at the North Shore Boat House. If you plan to participate, please RSVP to Doug Morrell at gateway.vcoa.chapter@gmail.com, web page at https://sites.google.com/site/gatewayvcoa/.

23 Aug 2015—MG “B” There Party, hosted by the MG Club of St Louis. Gather-ing of the local MGBs, all welcome; B there to show off your B at Babler State Park, Chesterfield, 1 PM. Monitor www.stlouismgclub.com/.

23 Aug 2015—BSCC Autocross No. 5, Family Arena, St Charles, 9-9:30 show time. For info contact Racer Steve at sshab@yahoo.com.

27 Aug 2015—Gateway Healey Association RUMP: Lunch at Helen Fitzger-ald’s, 3650 S Lindbergh, 11:30 AM, followed by a visit to MotoExotica, 2340 Cas-sens Dr. All welcome, please RSVP to Tom Evans, tom@judyandtomevans.com.

29 Aug 2015—Wildwood Founder’s Car Show & Cruise, Wildwood Town Cen-ter at Taylor Rd and MO 100, following parade at 10 AM. Several trophies award-ed at 3 PM, followed by a car cruise of scenic Wildwood, ending at the Big Chief Grill on old US 66 for dinner. Return for concert and fireworks at Town Center.

30 Aug 2015—St Louis Region SCCA Autocross No. 8, Family Arena, St Charles, see www.stlsolo.org for more information.

4 Sept 2015—Memories Car Club First Friday Cruise, Faith Church, MO 30/Gravois at Rahning Rd, west of I-270, sponsored by the Memories Car Club. Held the first Friday monthly through 2 October, 6-9 PM, gates open at 4 PM. Display vehicles enter off Old Gravois Rd.

5 Sept 2015—6th

Annual O’Fallon Elks Lodge Classic Car & Motorcycle Show, at Fort Zumwalt High School, registration 9 AM until noon, $15 entry fee, dash plaques to the first 60 participants, attendance prizes and awards in seven classes. Benefits Wounded Warriors, Vietnam Vets of America and the Marine Corps League of St Charles. Info (636)219-0847.

12 Sept 2015—5th Annual LifePoint Transportation Expo, at LifePointe Church, 1400 Babler Park Dr. Show 10 AM-3 PM, 15 classes, plaques awarded for

(Continued on page 2)

Continued on pg. 4

2

each class plus special awards, proceeds benefit club to help local boys living in difficult situations. Info (636)458-3885 or www.lifepointewildwood.com.

13 Sept 2015—BSCC Autocross No. 6, Family Arena, St Charles, 9-9:30 show time. For info contact Racer Steve at sshab@yahoo.com.

13 Sept 2015—Midget Day Party, for local MG Midgets. Hosted by the MG Club of St Louis, Babler Memorial State Park, 800 Guy Park Dr, Chesterfield. All welcome, monitor www.stlouismgclub.com for details, be advised there will be no Australi-an-rules Midget Toss Competition.

13 Sept 2015—19th

Annual Walter F. Phillips Memorial Old Cars Against Cancer Wheels in Motion Day, West-port Plaza, 9 AM to 4 PM. Registration $20 per car, first 150 cars receive dash plaque, food and drink available, entertain-ment. For more information, call Elliott (314)878-0534 or Al (314)650-7639.

19 Sept 2015—Cars & Coffee, Westport Plaza, I-270 and Page, 8:30 AM.

19 Sept 2015—Gateway VCOA Mid-Missouri Meet-Up, Marceline, MO with the Volvo Club of Kansas City. The clubs will participate in the big “Hometown Toonfest” parade saluting favorite son Walt Disney, followed by a car show on Main Street and tour of the Disney Hometown Museum. Figure on a 6:15 departure from St Louis, if you plan to participate please RSVP to Doug Morrell at gateway.vcoa.chapter@gmail.com.

19 Sept 2015—3rd

Annual Chesterfield Community Church Cruise-In, 3 PM, 14647 Ladue Rd (at Olive), Chesterfield. For information, contact Major Deberry (314)814-2611.

20 Sept 2015 –25th

Annual Greentree Festival Classic Car & Truck Show, 10 AM-4 PM at the Kirkwood Community Center, S Geyer just south of Adams. Set-up at 8 AM, limited to 100 cars, $20 for show cars, $10 for display, seven classes including sports and special interest vehicles. Questions call Mike Keehn (314)966-2535, flyer and registration form at http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/mm/files/GREENTREE/2014Greentree/Car%20Show%20Registration.pdf.

20 Sept 2015—St Louis Region SCCA Autocross No. 9, Gateway Motorsports Park, see www.stlsolo.org for more infor-mation.

20 September 2015—Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri 37th

Annual Swap Meet & Car Show, now at the Hollywood Casino, Maryland Heights. Car show has 17 classes, cars must be 1990 or older, more info available on the club website at www.hccmo.com.

20 Sept 2015—Shriners Benefit Car & Motorcycle Show, Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Road, St Louis, 9 AM to 4 PM (rain date 27 September). Registration $15 for show, $20 for judged vehicles, all makes and models welcome; dash plaques, attendance prizes, trophies, large number of classes. All proceeds go to the Shriners Hospital for Children.

24 Sept 2015—Gateway Healey Association RUMP: Visit to Mann’s Restoration, 5 N 6th St, Festus. Leave St Louis about 9-9:30 AM, tour 10-10:30 AM, followed by lunch at Poppy’s Ristorante, 2000 N Truman Blvd, Crystal City, at noon. All wel-come!

25 Sept 2015—ABCCS Annual BBQ & Welcome Party, 6-11 PM, hosted by British Car Restorations & Services LLC, 2338 N Lindbergh, St Louis. Details to follow, monitor www.stlouismgclub.com/. Open to all.

26 Sept 2015—34th

Annual St Louis All British Car & Cycle Show. Best in the Midwest, at the traditional show grounds at Creve Coeur Lake Park, presented by the MG Club of St Louis with food concession by the St Louis Triumph Owners Association. This year’s featured marque is MG, with a special salute to the 60th anniversary of the MGA. Info in-cluding online reservation at www.allbritishcarshow.com/home/.

27 Sept 2015—Annual Autos on Valhalla, 7600 St Charles Rock Rd, benefitting Ride on St Louis. Event starts at 11 AM with awards at 2 PM, food provided by Maggiano’s. Details to follow at http://rideonstl.org/autosonvalhalla.

27 Sept 2015—Oktoberfest Car Show, St Charles, sponsored by the First Capitol Classics Auto Club. Stock vehicles only, 1990 or earlier, no modifieds, street rods or customs. Show at Boone’s Lick Rd and S Main St, St Charles. Info (636)928-8672 or email firstcapitolclassics@yahoo.com.

2-4 Oct 2015—St Louis PCA Carrera Classic, high-performance driving event with the BMWCCA St Louis Chapter at Gateway Motorsports Park, 700 Raceway Blvd, Madison, IL. Registration at https://www.motorsportsreg.com/events/parktown-imports-carrera-classic-october-2015-gateway-motorsports-park-057096.

3 Oct 2015—Benefit Car Show/BBQ for St Louis County Police Welfare Association, register 8 AM-noon, $20 en-try, 32 classes, awards at 3:30 PM. At Mehlville High School, 3200 Lemay Ferry Road.

3-4 Oct 2015—SLTOA Fall Drive to Fulton. Overnight trip for a visit to the National Churchill Museum, on the grounds of Westminster College, the scene of Sir Winston Churchill’s 5 March 1946 “Iron Curtain” speech. Other opportunities include the Auto World Museum, plus LBC group photo opportunities. See www.visitfulton.com for more information on the town, meeting location and departure time to be announced.

4 Oct 2015—BSCC Autocross No. 7, Family Arena, St Charles, 9-9:30 show time. For info contact Racer Steve at sshab@yahoo.com.

10 Oct 2015—Annual Jaguar Association of Greater St Louis Concours d’Elegance, in Chesterfield. One of the major annual St Louis special interest car events, details to follow, monitor www.jcna.com/clubs/main.php?club=sc20&Vref=sc20.

St Louis Car Shows and Cruises:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/lakerscarclub.

Up & Coming (Continued from page 1)

3

Roadwork: The Batmobile

No, not that Batmobile, although one of the Dark Knight’s 1989 movie versions is currently for sale over at MotoExotica (“make offer”). We’ re talking about one of the great German competition coupes of all time.

As men-tioned in last Janu-ary’s Relay, during the early 1960s a reinvigor-ated BMW decided to go racing with its Neue Klasse cars, starting with the 1500

and working up through the 2002. The vehicles saw a good deal of success, as did the larger 2000 coupe (introduced in 1965) and the 2800 CS (1968). BMW thoroughly dominated the 1969 European Touring Car Championship, besting Por-sche for Division 3 honors with 6 wins in 11 races. BMW-Alpina followed up with another championship in 1970, with 2800 CS victories at Salzburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.

Alfa Romeo took the manufacturers championship in 1971 but in 1972, the roof fell in, not only on BMW but also the Au-todelta Alfa Romeo team. After a few years of running Escorts with reasonably good success, the Ford factory effort switched to Capri RS2600s and thoroughly dominated the proceedings. The Fords notched wins at Monza, Salzburgring, the Spa 24-Hour race, Zandvoort, Paul Ricard, Silverstone and finally at Jarama. John Fitzpatrick, Hans Heyer and Rolf Stommelen managed to win with their Team Schnitzer Motul 2800 CS at the Nürburgring 6-Hour race on 9 July 1972, but otherwise the “European Mustangs” thoroughly dominated (although a BMW-Alpina 2800 CS managed third at Zandvoort on 20 August, surrounded by RS2600s. The drivers were Toine Hezemans, Gerold Panki and a young Austrian F1 driver named Niki Lau-da).

In 1970, BMW received a new chairman, Eberhard von Kuenheim. Among other initiatives, he decided the company would benefit from a strong (and hopefully, successful) factory racing team. The privateers and quasi-factory teams like Al-pina and Schnitzer had done well with a range of vehicles, but von Kuenheim figured a focused, full factory effort would boost both BMW’s reputation for sports sedans and sales. In 1972, the company formed BMW Motorsport GmbH. Jochen Neerspach assumed the duties as team manager; interesting-ly enough, he formerly held the same position with Ford Eu-rope and was the chief architect of the Capri’s domination. Race Engineer Martin Braungart also came over from Ford of Europe, like Neerspach, he was convinced to switch flags at the behest of BMW AG Sales & Marketing Bob Lutz (yes, that Bob Lutz, prior Marine fighter pilot, previously with GM in Eu-rope and later of GM – again – and Chrysler fame).

As the foundation for the new corporate sport/racing coupe, the company chose the 3.0 CS. Introduced in 1968, the car featured 2985cc straight-6, twin carbs and 180 horsepower. The subsequent 3.0 CSi variant featured Bosch fuel injection, a slightly higher compression ratio and 200 horsepower. The car looked fast and highly sporting right out of the box, er, showroom, but BMW Motorsport had plans to make a few mods, with the intent of dominating a number of racing series.

The cars received the designation of 3.0 CSL for Coupe Sport Leicht (light); Alpina did much of the development work, while Karmann built the bodies, which featured extensive use of aluminum, including the doors and trunk lid. The power windows, power steering, carpets and insulation came out

(well, except in England; apparently they were a tad fussier in the British Isles) and plastic replaced the side glass. The mods reduced the vehicle’s weight by about 330 pounds. The original engine was the 3.0’s standard 2985cc unit with dual Zeniths, but BMW quickly increased the bore slightly to push displacement to 3003cc, allowing competition in the over 3-liter classes. Like the 3.0 CSs, the CSLs also eventually gained fuel injection.

Sources vary on total production of the street versions of the 3.0 CSL; BMW needed to build at least 1000 but according to the BMW Registry, the company produced 1208. The model proved very popular and helped boost BMW ’s reputation, a couple of years in advance of the “Ultimate Driving Machine” ad campaign.

However, it was the racers which really helped seal BMW’s reputation. The cars which raced in America quickly earned the nickname “Batmobile,” for their massive flares, wings and other aerodynamic devices. According to Vintage Motorsports, the bewinged BMW looked like “…a car that Bruce Wayne would have driven while chasing down the Joker.” Writing in Pistonheads, Don Holtom commented,

Interestingly, the wild aero was deemed to be illegal for road use in Germany and the CSLs came with the kit packaged in the boot. But on the track the transfor-mation was not just aesthetic: the big rear wing helping to turn 30kg of rear axle lift into 60kg of downforce - and cutting a phenomenal 15 seconds per lap around the Nordschleife with Hans Stuck at the wheel.

With drivers such as Toine Hezeman – who took the 1973 driver’s title – Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Chris Amon and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jr, the 3.0 CSL took the Europe-an Touring Car Championship six times be-tween 1973 and 1979. BMW had also poached Stuck from Ford; the son of an Auto Union driver who won multiple grand prix prior to World War II, Stuck was one of the drivers who had dominated touring car racing with the Capris.

The 3.0 CSLs also raced in the United States under the BMW of North America flag, primarily in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Camel GT series. Noted rally driv-er John Buffum served as the team manager for the 1974 sea-son and prepared the cars under the title of Hurtig Team Libra.

They made the US debut of the 3.0 CSL at the 21 April Road Atlanta 6-hour race; Porsche Carreras dominated the GTO class, but Brett Lunger and Any Petery finished 4th in the No. 42 car, while Buffum and Steve Behr wound up in 7th in the No. 24 BMW. The team followed with a 9th place, Andy Petery, at Laguna Seca (Buffum DNFd); 6th (Buffum/Behr) at the Ontario Motor Speedway 4-hour race in May; and 3rd place (Buffum/Petery/George Follmer) and 4th place (Lunger/Buffum/Follmer) at Mid-Ohio. The team wound up skipping the next five races at Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte and Lime Rock (two events), but at the 20 October 1000 km race in Mexico City, Daniel Mu-niz, Follmer and R. Gama placed 4th in a car 3.0 CSL entered by Muniz. A second CSL finished 13th.

(Continued on page 4)

Hans-Peter Joisten in a BMW 2800 CS at Nur-burgring, 1973. Photo by Paul Kooyman/Touring CarRacing.Net

Hans Stuck, BMW 3.0 CSL. Photo: OneHot-Lap.Com.

4

Okay, not the most auspicious start, but the BMWs did a lot better in 1975…save for the opening round at Daytona, the

famous 24-hour race, held the first week-end of Feb-ruary. BMW of America entered two cars; both, driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck/Sam

Posey and Ronnie Peterson/Brian Redman DNFd due to failed connecting rods. Ah, but at the 21 March 1975 12 Hours of Sebring, a breakthrough: Brit Brian Redman and Australian Allan Moffatt, driving the No. 25 car, won the race, completing 238 laps in the process (Stuck/Posey in No. 24 went out due to an oil leak). The winning BMW finished three laps up on the 2nd place Porsche Carrera RSR driven by George Dyer and Jacques Bienvenue; five other RSRs, a 911S and two Ferrari 365 GTB4s filled out the top 10.

The CSLs took four more races during the 1975 Camel GT season. Brian Redman, teamed with Sam Posey and Allan Moffatt, took the 21 March 1975 Sebring 12-Hour race. Stuck won one of two Monterey Triple Crown races at Laguna Seca on 4 May (and placed second in the other heat); the team fol-lowed up with a one-two finish a week later at the Six Hours of Riverside. Stuck teamed with Dieter Quester to take the flag, with Posey/Redman right behind. Sam Posey managed a 2nd place finish in June’s Mid-Ohio 100-mile race; at Daytona’s Firecracker 400 in July, Stuck placed 1st over a brace of Por-sche Carreras; he followed up with a victory at Talladega in August (Posey finished 7th). The team finished the season with a 2-3 finish in the 250-mile race at Daytona; Brian Red-man and Sam Posey came in behind John Greenwood’s Cor-vette and in front of yet another heard of Porsches driven by people like Peter Gregg (who did take the 1975 driver’s cham-pionship), Hurley Haywood, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Jim Busby.

BMW finally took the overall win at the Daytona 24-Hour race in February 1976. Peter Gregg, Brian Redman and John Fitz-patrick did the honors for BMW of North America in a 3.5 CSL; David Hobbs and Benny Parsons came in 10th, bracketing a number of Porsches, Ferraris and one Corvette, while a third team car driven by Fitzpatrick and Tom Walkinshaw failed to finish. BMW had developed the 3.5 CSL over 1973-1974; it featured a DOHC/24-valve head with displacement increased to 3498cc and 440 bhp.

The cars remained in international competition into the early 2000s. According to Racing Sports Cars, Marcus Glaner man-aged a 9th place at the 29 September 2002 CDN GT Canadian CASC Celebration at Mosport, Ontario; this apparently marked the 3.0 CSL’s last major competition in North America. As for

Batmobile (Continued from page 3) the 3.5s, Peter Herke ran a few IMSA GT races in 1985, plac-ing 23rd at Laguna Seca and Sears Point.

The cars remain highly popular in vintage racing, including events like this year’s The Mitty (more formally, the 2015 Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty), held 24-26 April at Road Atlanta. BMW served as the featured marque at the event and plenty of Bavarian Motorwerke products took the grid among 400 cars. The weekend included several parade laps by historic BMWs, which included Brian Redman driving his old CSL. Over 10-12 July, le Sommet des Legendes at Circuit Mont Tremblant, Quebec, also featured BMWs.

Surviving road and racing CSLs periodically come up for auctions; one sold in 2010 for over $218,000 but generally the road cars “only” garner bids in the high-six figures. The cars remain highly popular, the racers partly for their outrageous aerodynamics; as writer Don Holtom put it,

The 'Bat' is a car that still makes people smile today - the sight of it rolling off the back of a transporter enough to make people stop and stare. The aerody-namic addenda are as cartoonish as the name sug-gests and appeal directly to the excitable child in all of us.

For me, the CSL is everything that's great about BMW's best. It is a road car honed and focused for the race-track. A car with unimpeachable motorsport pedigree, with a spirited normally aspirated straight six motor…A car to thrill the soul and reward the committed. A car that transcends its origins and holds its head high…

Sources: Jim Williams, “The Western Front,” Car & Driver, April 1975; Sports Car Digest; Daniel Vaughan, “1974 BMW 3.5 CSL,” ConceptCarz, June 2007; BMW, “BMW Unveils Trib-ute Livery for 40th Anniversary of First US Race Win at the 12 Hours of Sebring,” 14 March 2015; Craig Fitzgerald, “1975 BMW 3.0CSL ‘Batmobile,’” Hemmings, March 2010; Jim Don-nelly, “Brawn From Bavaria,” Hemmings, January 2007; Den-nis Gray, “HMSA Sommet des Legendes 2015 – Report and Photos,” Sports Car Digest, 17 July 2015; Don Holtam, “PH Heroes: BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile,’” PistonHeads, 19 Nov 2010; Racing Sports Cars; “Road Stir: 1973 BMW CSL,” Vin-tage Motorsports, July/August 2015; European Touring Car Challenge, http://touringcarracing.net.

among its “10 Most Beautiful Cars,” followed by features on the i8 and “The Definitive Jaguar,” the 1965 E-Type. Over at Car & Driver, all the makes, all the new models, plus a highly positive evaluation of the new Volvo XC90 (“How Swede It Is”).

July’s Classic & Sports Car provides a couple of comparison tests, one featuring the Triumph TR2 and Swallow Doretti, and the other the Jaguar XJ-S V12 and XJS 6-liter. The August issue compares three “family friendly” open cars: the Triumph Herald, Renault Caravelle VW Beetle convertible. July/August’s Vintage Motorsports has something for the Mini and MG faithful: an arti-cle on Joe Huffaker Jr’s return to SCCA racing after a multi-year layoff, with emphasis on his GT-Lite Mini (well, it does have a Mini body) and F Production MG Midget.

Thoroughbred & Classic Cars for August has a cover article - “‘70s Scorchers” – providing a driving comparison between the BMW 3.0 CSL, Triumph Dolomite Sprint, Ford Escort RS2000, Opel Commodore GS/E and Ford Capri RS3100. Also, a buyer’s guide for the Austin A30/A35. Finally, Classic Motorsports for September takes a look at the new-build Morgan three-wheelers.

In Print (Continued from page 1)

Apparently there’s something about BMWs and wheels in the air...The Stuck/Posey car, Sebring 1975. Photo via Classic & Vintage BMW.

Brian Redman takes his old CSL out for a spin at Road At-lanta. Photo by Peter Falkner/Sports Car Digest

5

Featured Events continued SLTOA SweatFest 21 Jul 15

Projects

One can never have too many car projects, right? Gateway Healey Association president Richard Etz commented on the long term plans for his ‘67 Firebird (and his other cars) in his column in August’s Side Curtain News. The August issue of JAGSL’s The Growl includes tales of racing a ’64 E-Type by Phil Taxman, including one off-road excursion at Blackhawk Farms.

Photo: Richard Etz Photo via Phil Taxman

6

Cars & Coffee 18 Jul 15

Featured Events continued

7

GHA RUMP 23 Jul 15

MG Club Annual Picnic 13Jul 15

Featured Events continued

A rare MGMC pickup truck, fits right in...

8

Featured Events JAGSL Birthday Party 12 Jul 15

Photos courtesy of The Growl, Jaguar Association of Greater St Louis