Riverti Automobili BMW M2 3.0 CSL Homage Revealed
An Italian coachbuilder called Riverti Automobili has just revealed teaser images of its first project: a modern BMW M2 reimagined in the skin of the legendary 3.0 CSL. The result is unmistakable — shark-nose front fascia, four circular headlights, wide-body fenders, a roof-mounted wing, and a second wing on the decklid. Every visual cue points straight back to the 1970s homologation racer that earned the nickname “Batmobile.”
Riverti hasn’t announced a name for the project yet, but the philosophy is already clear. An Instagram post from the company reads: “Not ‘resto.’ Retro. The difference is everything.” This is not a restoration of an original CSL — it’s a modern G87 M2 dressed to evoke one, and that distinction matters enormously to the people this car is aimed at.
What Riverti Is Building: The Design Details
The teaser images show a body that borrows heavily from the E9-generation 3.0 CSL’s most aggressive race trim. The pointy front end carries a prominent lower fascia and the four round headlights that defined the original’s face. Move rearward and the fenders flare out aggressively over what are presumably wider tracks, while a roof-mounted wing — the detail that made the original CSL look so outrageous in period — sits above the roofline. A second wing at the decklid completes the aero package.
Darker preview shots hint at an asymmetric hood duct on the passenger side near the windshield base, a detail that adds functional-looking drama without screaming afterthought. The roof is finished in black, giving the car a two-tone split that keeps the silhouette from reading as a single heavy mass. Riverti is still showing the body in a stylized wrap decorated with the letter R, so the final paint and panel finish remain under wraps. The Autoblog coverage of the project also notes rear styling cues that nod to the 2002 Turbo — square taillights and pronounced quarter-panel scallops — making this something of a mashup of two beloved BMW eras rather than a straight CSL copy.
Why The 3.0 CSL Is The Right Car To Invoke
The 3.0 CSL holds a specific place in BMW M history: it was the very first project BMW M undertook after the division was established in May 1972. Built as a lightweight homologation special for European touring car racing, the CSL shed weight through thinner steel, aluminum doors, and a stripped interior, then added the aerodynamic bodywork that made it visually iconic. It was never sold in the United States — the car was built specifically for the European racing series — though examples have trickled over the decades, and some 3.0 CSi owners have since modified their cars to replicate the look.
The proportions of the current M2 make it a surprisingly logical donor. The G87 measures 180 inches long, 74.3 inches wide, and 55.2 inches tall on a 108.1-inch wheelbase — dimensions that sit closer to the original E9 platform than anything in BMW’s current 3 or 4 Series lineup. The bones fit the brief better than most modern BMWs would.
The M2 As A Donor: Power, Gearbox, And Character
Riverti hasn’t confirmed powertrain specifics, but the M2’s stock setup is already a compelling starting point. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six produces 473 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque in rear-wheel-drive form, paired with a six-speed manual. The all-wheel-drive variant swaps in an eight-speed automatic and adds torque to 443 pound-feet. For a CSL homage, the rear-drive manual configuration is the only one that makes philosophical sense — the original was a driver’s car built to race, not a grand tourer.
There’s headroom above the stock output, too. The M2 CS pushed the same basic engine to 523 horsepower, which means tuners and coachbuilders have a well-documented path to more power without exotic hardware. Whether Riverti pursues that route is unknown — no mechanical specs have been released.
BMW’s Own CSL Tribute Left A Gap In The Market
BMW itself revisited the 3.0 CSL nameplate in 2023, building 50 examples on the M4 CSL platform with an overhauled body designed to echo the original racer. At $750,000 each, those cars were effectively rolling sculptures — collector pieces that most enthusiasts could admire from a distance but never realistically own or drive hard.
Fifty cars at three-quarters of a million dollars apiece leaves an obvious gap. There’s a substantial audience of BMW gearheads who want the visual drama of the CSL without the museum-piece price tag, and who’d rather have something built on a current M2 — a car they can actually row through gears on a canyon road — than a static tribute. Riverti hasn’t announced pricing, production numbers, or a debut timeline, so whether it can fill that gap affordably remains to be seen. But the appetite is clearly there.
For now, the teaser images are the whole story — no pricing, no production count, no confirmed debut date. Riverti is playing this one slowly, and given the subject matter, that’s probably the right call. A car invoking the Batmobile deserves a proper reveal.
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