BMW 3.0 CSL "Batmobile", for those who never left the paddock

Portugal is a small country with a very large classic car heart. If you want proof, you only need to look at what happened between September and October this year.

Three events, three regions, and one Best of Show that I think was exactly right.

autoClássico Porto, the big one

The 23rd edition of autoClássico Porto took place at Exponor, in Matosinhos, from 2 to 5 October. According to the organisers, Eventos Motor, about 40,000 visitors came through the doors, with around 70,000 square metres of exhibition and some 250 exhibitors.

The guests were proper legends. Giacomo Agostini, fifteen times motorcycle world champion. Ari Vatanen, world rally champion and Dakar winner. Cyril Neveu, five times winner of the Dakar on two wheels. They signed autographs and told stories, and for once the stories were better than the cars.

There were anniversaries everywhere: 75 years of Porsche in motorsport, 100 years of Mercedes-Benz and 60 years of the FIAT 124, along with a large presence of clubs, collectors and restorers.

The Best of Show

The classic concours went to a BMW E9 3.0 CSL "Batmobile". Among the modern supercars, the Aston Martin Valhalla won.

I would have voted for the BMW too. The 3.0 CSL is one of the great homologation specials in history. BMW built around a thousand lightweight road cars so it could race the coupé in the European Touring Car Championship.

In 1973 came the "Batmobile" version, with a larger engine of 3,153 cc, a front splitter, fins on the bonnet, a deflector on the roof and a big rear wing. The wing was not legal on German roads, so BMW delivered it in the boot, for the owner to fit. That loophole helped BMW win the championship in 1973, and many more titles through the decade.

It is a car designed by engineers to win, and it is beautiful almost by accident. That is my favourite kind.

A Portuguese season

autoClássico was the finale, not the whole story.

In early September, from 4 to 6, the Caramulo Motorfestival brought cars back up the mountain roads of Caramulo, near the museum that holds one of the best automobile collections in the country.

Then, from 16 to 20 September, the Estoril Classics filled the Autódromo do Estoril with historic racing. Hearing period racing cars at full speed on the Estoril circuit is something every car lover in Lisbon should do at least once.

Curious facts

• CSL stands for Coupé Sport Leichtbau, lightweight in German. Thinner steel, aluminium doors and bonnet, and Perspex side windows on early cars.
• The CSL is also part of art history. The first BMW Art Car, painted by Alexander Calder in 1975, was a 3.0 CSL.
• Ari Vatanen was a member of the European Parliament after his racing career. Not many rally champions can say that.

Where to experience it in Portugal

Next year's calendar should follow the same rhythm. The Caramulo Museum is open all year and is worth the drive on its own. The Autódromo do Estoril hosts historic events through the season. And autoClássico Porto returns to Exponor every October. Book the hotels in Matosinhos early. Forty thousand people need beds.

My take

Big international concours are wonderful, but they can feel like museums with champagne. What I love about the Portuguese events is that they are still a little bit wild. Families, clubs, mechanics, collectors, all in the same hall.

The jury chose a car that was built to fight, not to be admired, and I think that says something about our car culture. We like our classics driven.

For those who never left the paddock, Portugal had a very good autumn.