BMW's Celebrated six Cylinder Classic Coupes

Striking 1973 advertisement shot in Hidden Valley, near Westlake ViIlage, California.

The evolution of the BMW Coupe Sport models BMW, Bavaria's "Bayerische Motoren Werkes" in Munchen, Germany was originally known for producing prestigious and magnificent aeroplane engines. BMW soon thereafter set other world records with their well designed and popular motorcycles. During the late thirties and early forties they also enjoyed numerous automotive achievements with their lightweight and powerful race winning sports cars, namely the all conquering 328 and Mille Miglia sport racers that dominated all others European marques during the prewar years. These early times saw the fabulous 315, 326, 327 and 328 models enjoying it's glory era. BMW's coupes are a very special breed. Starting with the elegant 327 coupe from 1936, coach building was done outside the factory, a practice continued through the eighties with their top-of-the-line models. Available in both coupe and drop-head form, a total of 1,304 were built into 1940. These lovely six cylinder coupes were also made with the larger 2 liter 80 hp engine and known as the 327/28 with 569 examples built.

The svelte Type 327 coupe model with it's standard two-tone paint scheme and nifty rear fender skirts.

The BMW 328 - A Milestone in Sports Cars. A natural counterpart to the 327 was the ground breaking 328, first introduced in 1936. It was a smaller, more sporty version with a remarkable power to weight ratio. The popular 328 sports roadster was considered by many to be the best all around sports car of the era. These production roadsters were virtually unbeatable in many races due to their unique valve system. Developed by Dr. Fritz Fiedler, it's six cylinder engine utilized a single overhead low-set camshaft working the valves in a hemispherical chambered head. This gave the new 328 more horsepower and put the roadster out in front of all the competition.

Great 328 racing poster now available from BMW Museum.

Competition 328 Mille Miglia BMW-Frazer Nash

This extremely rare 1940 technical data brochure was published in England. The striking similarity to the later Jaguar XK-120 models is quite apparent.