The Vintage BMW M5 Hybrid

Dropping a modern drivetrain into a classic chassis is nothing new. Literally dropping one onto a modern chassis, however, represents a major step up in complexity. What you see below is basically the body of an old BMW 3.0 CS—you know it as the original BMW Batmobile—that's been dropped onto the chassis of a 1998-2003 E39 M5.

Forget every Prius you've ever seen. This is the best kind of hybrid.

As if it weren't an already complicated enough project, this is actually two 3.0 CS bodies. Two aging and rusting shells combined to make one good one to drop onto the M5 chassis.

The under hood stats now look a bit more modern: 4.9 liter V8, 400 hp.

Translation: Combined with the significantly lighter body, this is one hell of a ride.

The most unique part of the car's undoubtedly the interior, where the builders chose to keep as much of the stock M5's interior as possible. 

If you see it driving down the road though, you'd have to be a true Bimmerista to know there's something unique about this one.

Well, unless you happen to hear it first.


Aaron Miller is the Rides editor for Supercompressor, and can be found on Twitter. He loves the car, though he's unsure of the interior swap.