
BMW 3.5 CSL E9 #5 K. Miller / D. Cowart 6 Hours of Watkins Glen 1979 Minichamps 1:18

Specifications
- Brand
- BMW
- Manufacturer
- Minichamps
- Scale
- 1:18
- Material
- Diecast
- Model Condition
- Used Model
- SKU
- 155792605
- Year
- 1979
- Era
- 1970s
- Body Type
- GT Models
- Vehicle Class
- IMSA & North American Sportscar
- Openable Parts
- No
- Packaging Condition
- Traces of Storage
- Model Type
- Race Models
- EAN / GTIN
- 4012138146921
About the BMW 3.5 CSL E9 #5 K. Miller / D. Cowart 6 Hours of Watkins Glen 1979 Minichamps 1:18
TL;DR: This 1:18 Minichamps diecast recreates the K. Miller and D. Cowart BMW 3.5 CSL #5 raced under IMSA rules at the 1979 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. Built in zinc alloy with the car's aero kit intact, it represents the CSL's final active seasons, running on American soil years after its European touring car peak.
By 1979 the CSL was no longer the outright force it had been mid-decade, but IMSA's GT category still gave privateer teams a place to keep running it competitively in North America.
An American Racing Chapter for the European CSL
IMSA's rules through the late 1970s allowed a mix of aging European touring cars and purpose-built GT machinery to compete together, and Miller and Cowart's CSL entry reflects how privateer teams kept the shape relevant well past its European heyday. Minichamps' build holds to the same standard as its earlier-season CSLs, with the full factory aero kit, front splitter, roof fins, and rear wing, molded as separate pieces rather than smoothed into the body. The zinc alloy construction gives the model real weight, and the tampo-printed IMSA-era sponsor graphics stay sharp along the flanks. Watkins Glen's mix of long straights and technical corners suited the CSL's aerodynamic package just as well on American soil as it had at European circuits earlier in the decade.
Collecting the CSL's Later Seasons
Most CSL diecast collections lean heavily on the mid-1970s European touring car peak, so a 1979 IMSA entry like this one fills a gap that's easy to overlook. It shows the CSL's competition life extending well beyond its factory-backed European championship years, into a category and continent that gave the aging design a genuine second life. K. Miller and D. Cowart are not among the CSL's most famous drivers, but their Watkins Glen entry is a real, documented part of the car's full history.
This model suits a shelf tracking the CSL's complete competition arc from ETCC dominance through its IMSA-era twilight, or one focused specifically on North American sports car racing of the late 1970s.















