Few cars tin claim to agree as much fascination in the optics of the public 75 years later on their premiere equally the BMW 328. Built between 1936 and 1940, the BMW 328 laid down a milestone in automotive history and was the almost successful sports car of the 1930s on the racing scene. Agility, acceleration, reliability and lightweight construction – the BMW designers focused on the essentials in the development of the 328, ushering in a new era in the process.

Indeed, at a time when powerful supercharged "Kompressor" machines ruled the racing roost, the BMW 328 Roadster – weighing just 780 kilograms and developing a modest 80 horsepower in series product form – was a 18-carat sensation. And sure enough, the new Roadster wasted no time in putting its burly supercharged rivals firmly in their place in its debut outing at the Nürburgring on 14 June 1936.

The success of the BMW 328 lay in the sum of its parts: rigorously applied lightweight design, ideal weight distribution, aerodynamic lines, the perfect engine and a meticulously tuned chassis delivering flawless roadholding. All of which allowed it to underpin a fresh understanding of what a machine could exist, ane which saw the engine'due south output teaming upward with the optimum interplay of all the car's component parts – and complemented by maximum efficiency – to accomplish success. These qualities enabled the BMW 328 to embody the values that still underpin the BMW brand today: dynamics, artful appeal and a high degree of innovation.

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Having started life as a racing car mid-mode through 1936, series product of the road-going BMW 328 began in spring 1937. Still, the high-performance sports car did non remain the preserve of works drivers; while it was a fine racing machine, it was too equally as impressive in everyday employ. This meant that private customers could also enjoy the unadulterated Roadster experience laid on past a loftier-output engine and unimpeachable roadholding. On the road, its superlative speed of 155 km/h made it one of the quickest cars effectually. And, with only 464 examples ever made, the BMW 328 is today one of the most sought-afterwards collector'southward items on the market. Its allure lies in the timelessly beauty of an open-top two-seater, its still convincing engineering and the aura that countless racing victories had created around it. Afterward all, the BMW 328 was not merely one of the about visually appealing sports cars of the pre-war flow, in the 1930s information technology was also the most successful racing machine in Europe.

The premiere of the BMW 328.

The history of the BMW 328 got off to a rousing showtime. Eschewing the now traditional motor show premiere, the sports car was get-go introduced to an admiring public in an altogether feistier environment – namely the International Eifel Race at the Nürburgring on fourteen June 1936. A blanket of silence enveloped the new arrival in the lead-up to the race. But a scattering of insiders were let in on the cloak-and-dagger, a modest brochure released to this select inner circle in tardily 1935 revealing the existence of a new 2-litre sports car to be known henceforth under the designation "Typ 328". Its defiantly understated billing was notably curt of fanfare, with output and km/h figures conspicuous simply by their absence. Indeed, the machine's premiere even went without announcement in the press. The Roadster version, whose arrival was to revolutionise the sports car world over the subsequent two years, was unveiled about equally an after-thought, without drum roll or glitzy presentation. It was left to its abilities on the road to prick the public consciousness.

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The tension builds.

Saturday, 13 June 1936, the day earlier the premiere of the BMW 328. A busy day at the Nürburgring draws to a shut, but the air is nonetheless heavy with anticipation. The weather condition forecast for the following day is less than promising, but Ernst Jakob Henne – he of the distinctive claw nose – was relaxed: "We're used to these conditions at the 'Band," he shrugged. "A Sun without rain is non a proper Eifel Sunday."

Henne would be piloting the new car, the latest distinction of a career which had already seen him set a cord of earth records on BMW motorcycles over previous years. In exercise his car ran similar clockwork, and the adjacent twenty-four hours was expected to be much the same.

The car's engineers Rudolf Schleicher and Fritz Fiedle, meanwhile, were trying their best to disguise their nerves, but to little avail. Their anxiousness was justified; after all, scheduled for the following solar day was the debut of their sporty new two-seater – in 1 of the most important races of the yr.

An impressive debut.

Sunday, xiv June 1936 – the day of the premiere. 34 runners were listed in the sports auto category of the International Eifel Race. Seven of these were entered in the two-litre form, and five were BMWs. Four were "Typ 319/one" cars, the other Ernst Jakob Henne'south snow-white Roadster. The motorcar stood out from the crowd, its body boasting far more than flowing forms, a curved forepart end with a pair of slim, kidney-shaped air intakes like to those of the BMW 326 presented at the Berlin Motor Show that spring, headlights integrated into the front wings, a low, sloping windscreen and a bulbous rear end. Out of sight, yet most certainly not out of mind afterwards the car's lap times in practice, was the new engine lurking below the bonnet. The sound rumbling to the surface through the bonnet's 2 leather securing belts indicated the presence of a six-cylinder unit producing maybe 80 or even 90 horsepower.

As forecast, the pleasant atmospheric condition of exercise mean solar day were usurped by rain and mist on Sunday. But that didn't deter 250,000 enthusiastic fans from flocking to the excursion to witness the most exciting race of the season. The new BMW 328 promptly put its rivals – some of them with much higher-output engines – to the sword, breaking the Nürburgring lap record for sports cars in the process. "For undiluted, top-class racing the International Eifel Race at the Nürburgring was the place to be," trumpeted the daily press. "One of the near impressive results of the day was the victory of world record-breaking motorcycle passenger Ernst Jakob Henne in the non-supercharged sports machine form upwardly to two litres. He fifty-fifty managed to set the fastest lap time of whatever sports motorcar!" reported ane paper. "Henne squeezed incredible performance out of his new 2-litre car," added a stunned 'Die Motorwelt'. "What magnificent acceleration! (…) this sports car is quicker than all its supercharged rivals! Henne takes the victory by a articulate margin."

Henne's dream race and the premiere of the BMW 328 have gone down in Nürburgring folklore. But that wasn't the finish of the story: the victory of the new sports motorcar, whose internal designation "Baumuster 328" did non appear in any of the gushing race reports, marked the start of a legend which has secured BMW's condition as a synonym for sporting commitment to this day.

Sustained success.

And so the BMW 328 had taken its maiden victory in its debut outing at the Nürburgring. The win was to be followed past more than 200 others over a lifespan that lasted into the 1950s. Information technology was a run of success unparalleled by whatsoever other model in its class; few other cars have left such an enduring impression on the visitor's motor sport history as the BMW 328 with its two.0-litre directly-six engine.

Subsequently the triumph at the Nürburgring BMW set nigh conquering race tracks far and wide with a trio of BMW 328 prototypes. The universally positive reaction to the maiden victory of the new BMW sports automobile at the Nürburgring had sparked high expectations. There were some initial problems under sustained loads in the French Yard Prix at the high-speed Montlhéry circuit, simply the flow of fastest laps and victories soon resumed. Equally early on as August that year British BMW importer H. J. Aldington swept to glory in the Schleißheimer Dreiecksrennen race at the wheel of a BMW 328. And it was Aldington who urged the BMW pinnacle brass to enter another race outside Germany. A triumvirate of prototypes in green Frazer-Nash-BMW livery lined up for the Tourist Trophy in Ireland – and promptly sealed a clean sweep of the peak 3 places.

However, information technology was withal the three pre-product cars taking it in turns to rack up the wins, with various dissimilar drivers at the wheel over the months post-obit the premiere. Private customers were forced to play the waiting game, equally product was ho-hum to get into gear; the first cars were not delivered to customers until tardily April 1937. So it was a year afterwards Henne's dramatic debut earlier individual BMW 328 owners could test out their new purchase in race action. One time the offset customers did finally get their hands on their long awaited BMW 328, information technology was articulate how the rest of the racing flavor would unfold. For example, at the 1937 Eifel Race there were 9 BMW 328 racers on the grid, and the fight for victory would consequently exist an in-business firm matter. Over the years that followed but a handful of cowed attempts were made past other cars to take on the hot-heeled BMWs.

Reports of victories continued to rain into Munich from every corner of Europe. And it wasn't only class wins that the car was amassing so effortlessly, equally much more powerfully-engined cars as well succumbed to its irresistible will. The small two-litre sports car was building a handsome collection of overall victories over once superior rivals. Sports motorcar racing was fast beingness redefined, the BMW 328 giving the ii-litre course a powerful new contender.

The evolution of the BMW 328.

When the foundations were laid for the construction of the BMW 328 in the early 1930s, the car's creators Rudolf Schleicher and Fritz Fiedler had petty thought of the significance the sporty 2-seater would one day attain. Several decades on, this Roadster, with its powerful 2-litre six-cylinder motor, is all the same lauded every bit the about beautiful and successful sports machine of its time. Schleicher and Fiedler made the ideal engineering squad for such a project. In add-on to their deep noesis in many areas of automotive construction, the 2 men could call on many years of experience, a wealth of ideas and, to a higher place all, ambition. They complemented each other perfectly, the engine specialist Schleicher blending his talents with Fiedler's expertise in vehicle structure to outstanding event.

In the BMW 328 they developed a refined sports automobile, whose qualities would provide i of the pillars for further developments over the decades that followed. The cars wheeled out for those successful early races were in fact image versions developed in the simplest of surroundings. Nowadays the creation of a new automobile evolves as part of a procedure costing millions and is drawn out over several years. It includes the contributions of hundreds of engineers and designers working nether the strictest secrecy in development centres and design studios. By extreme contrast, the BMW 328 was put together in double-quick time with minimal utilise of materials and manpower. When Mssrs Schleicher and Fiedler conceived the BMW 328, in that location was no such matter every bit market inquiry, a design department or a wind tunnel at BMW, never mind the electronic tools their counterparts take for granted today. Back and then, designers were to exist found huddled effectually drawing boards or in the testing workshop, using their hands to lend course to their ideas. That such a successful motorcar was created in this surroundings highlights the designers' achievement – the BMW 328 is a masterpiece of the engineering art. If you were to single out one aspect of what makes the BMW 328 and then special, it would be the coherence of the overall concept. The sports car was neither overly innovative for its fourth dimension nor particularly powerful, yet its individual components – the drivetrain, torso and chassis – came together to course a superior whole. And information technology remains a convincing, impressively resolved parcel today.

The drivetrain – making a good system better.

Although the BMW 328 was developed on the ground of the BMW 319/one, it differed significantly in both its outside appearance and under the skin. Indeed, the technical attributes of the new sports car combined to make the 319/1 "wait rather old" when you lot compared them directly. The lack of resource for an all-new design meant that the BMW 328 had to make do with a modified version of the 50 hp engine from the BMW 326. The 2-litre grey cast iron cake was given a new cylinder head (made from an aluminium alloy) with valves arranged in a "V". Valve control was the job of the side-mounted camshaft using bell cranks on the exhaust side and transverse pushrods. This impressively effective upgrade increased output to 80 hp at 4,500 revs per minute.

Expertise from the race track is transferred to the road.

Those early on outings with the BMW 328 prototypes on the race track showed design engineers Fiedler and Schleicher that further development work was required for the 328 – when it came to utilize both on the road and in race action. They began past trying to weed out the weak points that had been so stubbornly apparent during the loftier-speed race in Montlhéry. At the same time, they set upwardly a racing department to provide a professional person platform from which to run the racing activities for the BMW 328. This department also ensured that the noesis gained in the races would flow into the development of the standard 328 and, indeed, into production of other BMW models also.

The serial-produced BMW 328 benefited from discoveries made on the race rails in the form of a strengthened gearbox and rear axles, for example. In improver, the race engines used in the 1940 Mille Miglia were given reinforced crankshafts. These featured nine counterweights, including a reinforced central weight element which eliminated the risk of bending. These crankshafts and a number of other upgrades – notably to the valve command – enabled the race engines to run at speeds of up to vi,000 rpm. This pushed the engine output recorded on the test rig upwardly to 136 hp. Series production likewise profited from these advances. The experience with the race crankshafts was reflected in areas such every bit the evolution of the engine for the kickoff mail-state of war BMW, the "Typ 501", whose crankshaft also had nine counterweights.

The body – lightweight blueprint as a construction principle.

But it wasn't but the modified drivetrain that fabricated a convincing impression; the BMW 328 also boasted roadholding no other motorcar at the time could match. The outstanding qualities of the BMW 328, the high average speeds inside its compass and its splendid handling characteristics were the fruits of a design principle introduced with the BMW 303: lightweight construction. Since the early 1930s BMW had been more synonymous with this concept than perhaps any other carmaker. Fundamental elements of this innovative design principle include the use of materials with the everyman possible specific weight – where the construction of the car allows – and cutting-edge chassis and body structure techniques which correspond a departure from conventional thinking.

The tubular frame structure developed by engineer Fritz Fiedler and patented by BMW played an important role in limiting the weight of the BMW 328 to 780 kilos. This frame consisted of 2 longitudinal tubes with circular cross sections which converged in an "A" shape from the rear wheels to the front of the machine, accommodating the width of the engine, and were continued by rectangular profiles. The strong, lightweight frame supported the front suspension with lower wishbones and an upper transverse leaf spring, while the alive rear axle had semi-elliptical longitudinal leaf springs.

The tube cantankerous sections then tapered towards the areas at the rear subject field to lower bending forces, helping to significantly reduce the weight of the frame. This special tube design as well led to improved angle resistance and torsional rigidity – and therefore gave the car better and more direct treatment. A chassis with a tubular frame therefore had huge advantages over constructions featuring the U-section frame more common at the time.

However, many motorists back in those days believed that a heavier car was safer and also easier to control than a lightweight model. Y'all would hear the same opinion again and once again: that simply a heavy car would "stick to the road like gum", i.e. possess good roadholding. Nevertheless, BMW experts pointed out that roadholding was straight linked to centrifugal force, which depended on mass – the greater the mass, the greater the centrifugal force. Added to which, stronger inertial forces also bear upon all other sprung and rotating parts of the automobile. A college unladen weight requires increased output to propel the expressionless weight, and loftier unladen weight too places significantly greater loads on engine components. All of which means that lowering a car's weight offers diverse benefits.

BMW was a house believer in lightweight pattern, the BMW 328 providing a prime number instance of its delivery to transferring the principles of a construction technique that still holds truthful today into the series production of all its models.

Series production begins.

Having made its debut every bit a racing auto in 1936, series production of the
BMW 328 finally began a year after. Far from being designed purely for racing, this was a "powerful everyday car for travel and sport", as the advertising put it. However, there was none of the promotional fuss and press attention we would expect today for a sports car designed for road and touring use. In spring 1938 Bayerische Motoren Werke delivered the 200th BMW 328 to its possessor. And yet only 464 examples were produced upwardly to 1940, leaving the 328 every bit a sought-later rarity in archetype motorcar circles today. The offset-up costs for the BMW 328 amounted to a total of 445,000 marks, a relatively minor outlay when you consider the
ane.4 million marks accounted for past the BMW 320 and the 2.three one thousand thousand marks information technology took to bring the BMW 326 Saloon to life.

Equipment.

When information technology came to getting into your seat, the BMW 328 first required you to reach within the car, as the doors had no exterior handles. Once settled in behind the bicycle yous were greeted by a pair of pleasantly articulate dials – the rev counter on the left and to its right a 180 km/h speedometer of equal diameter. These were joined past three smaller instruments charged with keeping the driver informed of fuel levels, oil pressure and water temperature. The usual buttons and switches for the starter motor, lights, choke and direction indicators rounded off the dashboard. Standard fixtures and fittings as well included a glove compartment with a hat, pockets in the doors and a well-equipped tool box. In the centre of the black, three-spoke steering bicycle was the push for the ii Bosch horns positioned behind the double-kidney grille.

And in example the battery went apartment, there was a hole for a starting crank in the radiator cover underneath the double-kidney grille – a standard feature at the time. The spare wheel was accommodated in a recess in the rear end.

The start three prototypes had no doors, and neither did they come with a mount or recess at the rear for the spare cycle. Their windscreen was depression and single-piece in design. By contrast, the later series-produced cars had screens consisting of two halves – angled in a V – which could exist folded down individually and had a wiper each. In addition, the BMW 328 came equally standard with patented fundamental-locking Kronprinz disc wheels with v.25×16 tyres. Backside them, hydraulic brakes with 280 mm bore drums gave good stopping distances for the fourth dimension. A particularly sporty touch on was provided by the ii leather belts strapped over the bonnet. Along with the classic "double-kidney" design of the radiator grille, these light-brownish cowhide belts – held in identify by a prune-lock – represented a prominent stylistic element of the BMW 328.

The "Künstlerische Gestaltung" section.

The applied science below the surface of the BMW 328 was impressive indeed, but the car's looks were besides among its strengths. Indeed, viewed through 21st century optics, this remains one of the most handsome sports cars of the 1930s. Its arresting looks certainly didn't come up nearly by chance; since the 30s BMW has paid very close attention to the artful ingredients of vehicle development as well as to technical aspects. In 1934 the company had gathered together its vehicle development activities under the watchful eye of Fritz Fiedler in Eisenach. His team was only 20-strong in those early on days, but the department soon began to grow. For example, on 1 Oct 1936 trunk specialist Wilhelm Kaiser arrived in Eisenach to strengthen the team. His tasks included drawing upwardly body designs for the 328. Using the mitt-built prototypes equally a basis, he designed a shape which borrowed the shine, flowing stylistic features of the new 326 and could be assembled with relatively simple tools from pre-pressed parts. All of which made the BMW 328 a harmonious alloy of form and part.

The BMW 328 acted equally a catalyst for change. When the automobile development department was relocated to Munich in 1937 Kaiser took over the body evolution and design part in Munich-Milbertshofen. It soon became clear that the team lacked the manpower to deal with time to come tasks, prompting the institution on one September 1938 of the new "Künstlerische Gestaltung" design section, headed past Fritz Fiedler. This gave Munich a state-of-the-art design studio, where the designers worked with Plasticine models, taking a leaf out of their American counterparts' book. This was where their ideas literally took shape, their designs – as today – translated into life-size models and and so refined to create an emotional piece of work of art. Over the following 2 and a one-half years, the pattern team was responsible for the conception of all cars in the planning stages and under evolution – the 330, 335, 332, Mille Miglia Roadster and Kamm Racing Saloon beingness notable examples.

More powerful, faster, lighter – the various racing body shapes for the BMW 328.

Since its maiden outing in the 1936 Eifel Race, the BMW 328 had quickly established an iron grip over Europe's race tracks. For the engineers in Munich, notwithstanding, this was no reason to take their pes off the gas. Instead, they worked apartment out on increasing the machine'south original output of 80 hp. Rival manufacturers had already boosted their engines to something effectually 110 hp, just a significant rising higher up that level was non expected. At that place was certainly piddling scope to further reduce the weight of what was already a lightweight car in standard production form. At that stage, reducing drag seemed like the only way to increase its speed. The curvaceous class of the 328, with its prominent forepart wings, may accept been a masterstroke of engineering science and design, but it was less than ideal aerodynamically. And so the BMW engineers gear up almost designing a totally new body based on the latest noesis from aerodynamics research.

The BMW 328 Touring Coupé.

In 1938 BMW'south rivals offered clear prove – notably at Le Mans and in the Mille Miglia – that smaller-engined cars could achieve extremely loftier speeds through the use of lightweight, streamlined bodies. Open-meridian cars had been shown to be less aerodynamically efficient than hardtops, and BMW wasn't near to argue. In 1938 the conclusion was taken to build a hardtop racing saloon based on the BMW 328 Roadster. However, initial testing did not exactly yield the desired success and the engineers did not enjoy the luxury of fourth dimension; before that year the motor sport authorities in Italy and Germany had agreed to concord a race on the motorways between Berlin and Rome, and BMW was down to compete. The race was repeatedly postponed, just BMW would also be expected to carry the German colours with distinction in the forthcoming Mille Miglia and Le Mans races so in that location was not a 2nd to waste. With the force per unit area building, the racing department turned to Carrozzeria Touring to build a streamlined machine for the outset of the 1939 season. The Milanese coachbuilder had already completed a similar project for Alfa Romeo and agreed without hesitation.

The BMW 328-based Coupé lined up for the first time at Le Mans in 1939 with Prince Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe, the NSKK (National Socialist Motoring Corps) team'due south leading driver, at the bike. The "superleggera" Coupé – weighing merely 780 kg – won the 2-litre grade past an impressive margin, recording an average speed of over 130 km/h. That was plenty to secure fifth place in the overall classification, fending off significantly more than powerful cars in the process and raising hopes for the company'southward chances in the Mille Miglia the following year. The BMW cars were perfectly poised to emulate the achievements of the company'southward motorcycles, which had already achieved impressive success in racing competition. In 1940 this momentum gave rising to several new BMW 328 racers – three Roadsters and, for the commencement fourth dimension, a hardtop racing saloon produced in-firm: the "Kamm Coupé".

The BMW 328 Kamm Coupé.

The success of the Touring Coupé encouraged the engineers in Munich to produce their own hardtop version of the BMW 328. A new streamlined body was duly created at the newly formed "Künstlerische Gestaltung" department under the stewardship of Wilhelm Meyerhuber. The all-new space frame was fabricated from the magnesium alloy Elektron and weighed but 30 kilos, while the aluminium trunk gave the machine a streamlined outer skin. The specifications tested by Professor Wunibald Kamm in the air current tunnel were followed precisely, resulting in a automobile with a Cd of effectually 0.25 (measured using a model). This was significantly lower than that of the Touring Coupé (approx. 0.35).

The "Kamm Coupé" was given its first opportunity to demonstrate its performance potential on the superhighway between Munich and Salzburg. Setting a top speed of 230 km/h, it became the fastest BMW on record. However, the outbreak of war initially bandage doubt on whether it would get the take a chance to show what information technology could do against its rivals. In the event, the Kamm Coupé did see race action in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

In the turmoil of the early on post-war menstruation the car slipped off the radar, and later came word that it had been scrapped. Nevertheless, in 2010 a replica of the auto was commissioned past BMW Classic, breathing new life into not but an of import milestone in motor sport history, but also the history of vehicle aerodynamics.

The BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster.

The two hardtop cars did non travel to Italia alone, though, for the Mille Miglia in spring 1940; three open-height ii-seaters were to bring together them at the commencement of the race in Brescia, Meyerhuber having succeeded in transferring the streamlined design to the Roadster. The lithe, sweeping presence of the streamlined Roadster allowed it to exude a feeling of dynamism and speed without so much as turning a wheel. This was some other car where models were created for in-depth testing in the Stuttgart air current tunnel. In autumn 1939 a space frame was attached to the standard chassis of the Mille Miglia class winner from the previous twelvemonth and covered with a thin aluminium skin. The prominent edging of its front wings presently earned the automobile its nickname: the "Trouser Crease" Roadster. Again the experts managed to extract more power from the engine, the Roadsters now producing 95 kW (130 hp) from one,971 cc and the Kamm racing saloon up to
100 kW (136 hp) – sensational figures for the fourth dimension.

Munich-based racing driver Uli Richter was handed the task of taking the finished car out in the icy cold for a series of high-speed runs forth the autobahns exterior Munich. Notwithstanding, the streamlined roadster required just minimal improvements. Another 2 infinite frames had already been mounted to the requisite chassis, but the clock was starting to tick. The body department in Munich was understaffed for the job in mitt and there were fears that the two racers would not exist ready to meet the leap deadline. If ever there was a time to tap into those good relations with Milan once more, this was it. The 2 half-finished racing cars were duly transported over to Touring, and the experienced Italian coachbuilder had no trouble in finishing the work in a brusk space of time.

The BMW 328 and the Mille Miglia.

The Mille Miglia was the globe's longest route race and led from Brescia via Cremona, Piacenza, Bologna, Florence and Siena all the way to Rome. The return leg of the race to Brescia took the drivers via Perugia, Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara and Venice. The drivers and their machines covered i,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) – non-stop – through Italian countryside, towns and villages in what was from the get-go one of the most exacting challenges available to man and motorcar. Success in the Mille Miglia was proof of a company'south competitiveness not only on the racing stage but also in automotive structure in general.

The debut Mille.

The 1938 Mille Miglia was scheduled for the start of April and marked the beginning of the race season in continental Europe. The big Alfa Romeos went into the flavor as favourites, and it was hardly a plow-up for the books when the Italian Alfa pairing of Biondetti/Stefani wrapped upwards the overall victory with an average speed of 133.391 km/h. The major surprise was to come up, though; the Fane/Williams driver squad steered their BMW 328 to 8th place in the overall nomenclature, winning the two-litre class and leaving a considerable number of supercharged cars in their wake. Fane and Williams' fellow BMW 328s gear up the seal on a successful race, following them home in 10th, 11th and twelfth overall and securing second, 3rd and 4th places in their class. Added to which, they also won the team prize for consistency and the laurels for the all-time foreign entrant.

The 328 had proved that information technology was capable of sustaining incredibly high speeds over long distances without complaint. The car'south combination of impressive output and flawless roadholding had shown that information technology was possible to overcome the claiming of far more powerful rivals. For BMW this success represented the international breakthrough in European motor sport.

The 1940 Mille Miglia – the BMW 328's greatest triumph.

The political state of affairs meant that merely a scattering of races took place in 1939 and 1940. One of those was the 1940 Mille Miglia. Although it still covered 1,000 miles, the drivers would not be competing on the classic road to Rome and back, only over a 167-kilometre triangular course between Brescia, Cremona and Mantua, to be lapped nine times. BMW set its sights high and entered five uncompromising race BMW 328s in the issue. Alongside the three Roadsters, the Touring Coupé and Kamm Coupé, a pair of hardtop versions of the BMW 328 were added to the line-upwards. The race-bred engines of the five Mille Miglia cars developed between 130 and 136 hp, and were capable of top speeds ranging from 200 to 220 km/h.

Although the BMW 328 Roadster won the 2-litre class in the 1938 Mille Miglia, BMW was to experience its major triumph in 1940. Waved on his way at 6.twoscore a.one thousand. on 28 April 1940, Touring Coupé commuter Huschke v. Hanstein roared straight into the atomic number 82 of the ii-litre category and never relinquished it over the full 1,503-kilometre race altitude. After 8 hours, 54 minutes and 46 seconds car number 70 duly took the chequered flag. Von Hanstein and his co-driver Bäumer had not just wrapped up the class honours – with an boilerplate speed of 166.723 km/h – they likewise took overall victory and, setting a marker of 174.102 km/h, recorded the fastest lap boilerplate. No other Mille Miglia winner before or since has matched the speeds accomplished by the "Rennbaron" in his BMW 328 Mille Miglia Coupé with Touring torso .

The downcast Italians had to wait over a quarter of an hour for the 2d-placed Alfa Romeo of Farina/Mambelli. Tertiary were Adolf Brudes and Ralph Roese in one of the 3 BMW streamlined roadsters. The other BMW starters filled fifth and sixth places. Just the Kamm Coupé was forced to retire with engine problems. Up until its premature demise, notwithstanding, it had been running close backside Huschke von Hanstein'south Touring Coupé and might well take put up a strong fight for the win had information technology non succumbed. The outstanding placings of the BMWs ensured that Munich also had the squad prize to celebrate alongside victory in the overall classification. Its success in the Mille Miglia 1940 represented the crowning glory of the company's already fruitful motor racing history to date.

The BMW 328 in the post-state of war period.

The BMW 328 continued to enjoy success in international competition into the 1950s. This makes it one of the most successful racing cars in BMW'south long history in motor sport. Although car races were far from a regular effect in mail-state of war Germany, when they did happen a handful of BMW 328 always featured prominently in the starting field. Many drivers carried out modifications to the aerodynamics and engine of their cars, and some fifty-fifty employed their ain teams of mechanics. Indeed, independent drivers were now enriching the racing scene every bit designers, creating racing machines brimming with imagination and improvisation.Into the 1950s, more than x years after its introduction, the BMW 328 and its offspring from various body manufacturers were notwithstanding dominating the two-litre grade.

The BMW 328 today.

Of the 464 examples of the BMW 328 ever built, simply around 200 have survived, some 120 of which are in Germany. Many all the same take part in historical races to this 24-hour interval. And cars from BMW Classic's own collection can regularly exist found in the thick of the action – often with illustrious figures at the bike. Indeed, in 2003 Sweden'southward Rex Carl 16 Gustav teamed with Prince Leopold of Bavaria for the reborn Mille Miglia – at present run as a regularity examination – in a BMW 328 Touring Roadster.

2004 saw a very special victory added to the more than than 200 race wins accomplished by the BMW 328 into the 1950s, the famous old sports auto writing Mille Miglia history all over again. Giuliano Cané and his co-driver and married woman Lucia Galliani lined up in the winning auto from 1940, the BMW 328 Touring Coupé, and promptly pulled off the enviable flim-flam of adding victory in the mod Mille Miglia to its success over 60 years before. And that made the BMW 328 Touring Coupé the first motorcar to back upward its success in the original Mille Miglia with glory in its historical reincarnation.

Then, in 2010 – exactly lxx years afterward winning the 1940 Mille Miglia – the BMW 328 Touring Coupé did it all once again. Over again it was Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani who steered the Coupé majestically through the numerous stages and swept forth the 1,000 miles through Italia without a single technical hitch. Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Leitner added the icing to the cake of BMW's success by finishing third in a standard BMW 328 in another case of Mille Miglia history repeating itself; 70 years ago BMW had too claimed third place.

To be reminded of merely how stiff the 1940 cars notwithstanding are today, you need only witness their journey to Italy for the event. There is not a transporter or trailer in sight; instead, just as they did 70 years ago, they travel from Munich to Brescia on their own power. And fifty-fifty more impressively, they complete the journey on a single tank of fuel; then, as now, the engines were non only powerful but also efficient. The drivers and cars tin run into a wide variety of weather conditions en route to Brescia and during the event itself, but naught can dampen the spirits of the drivers and cars alike. Whether they're basking in 27 degrees Celsius on the Adriatic or shivering just in a higher place freezing in the snow and mist of Monte Terminillo, the teams feel everything the Italian climate can throw at them. And today, but every bit they did back then, they ability to victory in sumptuous fashion.

[Source: BMW]