BMW reveals 'CSL Homage Livery'...

... and X5 xDrive40e plug-in hybrid. Guess what's coming to the UK

It's probably correct to begin with the X5, given it's the road car that you will be available in the UK. We'll come to the very cool racing cars shortly...

Purists look away now...

The X5 xDrive40e is BMW's first non-i plug-in hybrid. Got it? It uses the 245hp, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo and a 113hp electric motor, combining to make 313hp in total. Overall torque is rated at 332lb ft but of course the important stats with a plug-in hybrid are the efficiency numbers: 85.6 claimed combined mpg, 77g/km and 19 miles on electric power only. The X5 also comes with BMW's very clever 360-degrees electric support package. Coming to a creche car park near you by the end of the year.

Anyway, enough of that. BMW racing cars. This weekend's Sebring 12 Hours marks 40 years since the first BMW motorsport victory in America. Indeed its four decades since BMW began racing in America, with all factory racing postponed in 1974 due to the energy crisis. Back in 1975 the #25 IMSA 3.0 CSL of Brian Redman and Allan Moffat won at Sebring after retirement at Daytona, with Redman driving for more than seven hours as 'Moffat could not match his speed.' That's from the BMW press release...

... to here, perhaps!

To mark the occasion, the pair of Z4 GTLMs racing this weekend will be painted in a 'CSL Homage Livery.' And don't they just look fabulous? The blue, purple and red stripes on white paint work just as well in 2015 as they did in 1975. The Z4 will also carry the 'Bavarian Motor Works' windscreen sticker, used on early BMW racers in the US as 'British Motor Works' was the commonly understood meaning.

BMW USA creating a new livery for a racing car is not the most significant news story you will read this week. But it looks so damn cool, and proves that BMW remains more than just diesel crossovers and, erm, hybrid SUVs. Don't forget there's an M6 GT3 on the way as well.