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1973 DeTomaso Pantera L Restored Over Six Years to Be Sold
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A BMW M4 CSL has been photographed in Berlin wearing Frozen Tampa Bay Green, a shade never offered on the limited-run model, suggesting a bespoke Individual commission and potentially a one-off example.
By Eleanor Ellington · 3 min read
A BMW M4 CSL has been photographed in Berlin wearing Frozen Tampa Bay Green, a matte finish that was never part of the official colour palette for the limited-run lightweight coupe. The car was captured in front of the Westin Grand Hotel, where its distinctive paint immediately sets it apart from the 1,036 examples assembled at BMW's Dingolfing plant.
BMW offered the M4 CSL in just three colours: Frozen Brooklyn Grey, Alpine White and Black Sapphire. Production data indicates that 658 cars were finished in Frozen Brooklyn Grey, 251 in Black Sapphire and only 126 in Alpine White. Frozen Tampa Bay Green was not among the options, making this car a significant outlier if the photographs are genuine.
The M4 CSL is a two-seater coupe that serves as the most focused version of the current M4 range. It is also the fastest production BMW around the Nürburgring, a record that has been central to its reputation since launch. The matte green finish is said to work well with the car's exposed carbon-fibre elements and black accents, giving the already aggressive bodywork a more individual character.
According to unconfirmed reports, the car belongs to an owner who has assembled a collection of unusually coloured BMW M cars. The same individual is said to own a 1M finished in Java Green and an F87 M2 CS in Birch Green. Neither colour was officially available for those models either. The 1M was sold in Alpine White, Black Sapphire, Valencia Orange, Atacama Yellow and Monte Carlo Blue, while the first-generation M2 CS came in Misano Blue, Alpine White, Black Sapphire and Hockenheim Silver.
BMW Individual exists precisely to accommodate requests outside the standard catalogue, allowing customers to specify bespoke paintwork for a premium. However, applying an unofficial shade to an ultra-limited model such as the M4 CSL is a more unusual proposition than selecting an Individual colour on a regular production BMW. The process typically involves additional cost and longer lead times, and it is not routinely extended to low-volume special editions.
Questions remain about the car's authenticity. In an era of AI-generated imagery, photographs circulating online cannot be taken at face value. The images have not been independently verified, and BMW has not commented on whether any M4 CSL left the factory in Frozen Tampa Bay Green. Until the owner provides more detail about the car's history, it can only be described as an apparently unofficially green M4 CSL and potentially the only one in existence.
The sighting adds to the M4 CSL's growing mystique. As a lightweight, track-focused machine, it has already attracted attention for its performance and its limited production run. A one-off colour variant, if confirmed, would make it even more collectible. For now, the car remains a curiosity — a striking machine that appears to have slipped through the standard ordering process and onto the streets of Berlin.
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