1973 BMW E9 3.0 CS Alpina B2
(Featured on 24th May 2014)
Make: BMW
Model: E9
Year: 1973
Sellers original description:
Everybody who knows me at Classic Heroes, will know that my love affair with German cars, especially BMW started many, many years ago with the E9 3.0 coupe, BMW’s range of luxurious GT Coupes built in the first half of the 1970s.
Around 1981 my Dad drove into our driveway in an 8 year old, Verona red 3.0 CSL. The image has never left me and it was the start of an amazing thirty year journey that has bought me to where I am today.
The great thing about my job, is that after all these years I still get that exciting slightly emotional feeling when I see, sell or work on a lovely E9. So you can imagine how I felt when I first laid eyes on this amazing Chamonix white 3.0 CS Alpina B2. Not just incredibly rare but also in the most amazing condition.
Burkard Bovensiepen had already taken Alpina from strength to strength. The company’s reputation for tuning products on BMW’s range of Neue Klasse cars had spread far and wide. In the late 60s and early 70s a big push on tuning products for the 2002 and the 3.0 Coupes took the company to an even higher level.
These exceptional and very usable tuning products gave the company a stable platform for Alpina to go motor racing. This had already proved very successful with outright wins in the Spa 24 Hour and an outright championship win in the European Touring Car Championship. The racing success led Alpina and BMW to work very closely together on the introduction of a lightweight CS and in 1971 the 3.0 CSL was born.
The relationship between BMW and Alpina has grown ever stronger over the last four decades, with new engines being designed by Alpina and even the production of current Alpina models being integrated in to the BMW production line.
This 3.0 CS was built in 1973 and was registered to the supplying dealer in Koln. In April 1974 the car was purchased by the first non BMW owner, a publisher from Koln.
In June 1975 the car was sold again to a serious motoring enthusiast who after a very short time took the car to Schorsch Meyer BMW/Alpina in Munich and had the very expensive Alpina B2 conversion carried out. The Alpina B2 230 PS engine with triple, twin choke, 40mm Solex carburettors made the already sporty 3.0 CS even more exciting. Alpina suspension, Alpina front spoiler, BMW boot lid spoiler, Alpina steering wheel, Alpina Scheel seat and 7” Alpina wheels all complemented the B2 engine ever further.
The 230 PS and 270 Nm of torque were achieved through an Alpina gas flowed hemispherical cylinder head, larger inlet and exhaust valves, 300 degree Alpina camshaft, Alpina crankshaft, conrods and pistons giving an increased compression ratio of 10.0:1. This increase in power gave impressive performance figures. 0 – 100 km/h in just 7.3 seconds and a top speed of 146 mph. Alpina believe that only 192 of these B2 engine were ever built. I really think price must have played a major factor in this low volume.
The owner enjoyed the car up until 1981 when it was deregistered and put into long term storage. In 2010 the owner embarked on what can only be described as a truly staggering restoration of the car. This attention to detail we have not seen for a very long time at Classic Heroes. The shell was stripped and rebuilt to concours condition, the interior and exterior trim restored to as new and mechanically the car is brand new and ready for long distance touring. The Alpina engine was stripped, inspected and re-assembled with all new gaskets, oil seals and O rings, etc. This astonishing restoration came in at an eye watering €73,000.
This awesome motorcar has covered only 114,000 KM from new. Presented in show condition and mechanically on the button ready for the next owner to enjoy.
The original Fahrzeugbrief showing just three owners from new comes with the car. This logbook also clearly shows the conversion to Alpina B2 spec carried out in June 1975 and that it was all TUV approved. The Alpina engine comes with all the original technical specification for the B2 conversion, the actual Alpina build sheet for this engine and original Alpina dynamometer graphs. It even has a letter from BMW dated 11th March 1975 confirming that the rear spoiler is TUV approved.
This really is a truly exciting opportunity to own a car that is a piece of amazing BMW / Alpina history.
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