Legendary Project Car: 1937 BMW 328
Our German buddy, The Bouncer, was a garage rat growing up. We could clog the tubes with his stories of Deutschland hoonage in hypermodified BMWs and mythical Porsches. As a result of this, we've got the inside track on some of Bavaria's most respected garages and their automeisters. This particular fellow is Dieter W. His full name and location will remain anonymous for reasons that will become evident shortly. Dieter is a BMW guy. His garage services only the steel of the Bayerische Motoren Werk and he's got an unbelievable little secret in one of his work bays.
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In his unassuming garage in the German country side, buried unter various parts boxes and old blankets, are the bits and pieces that make up one of 462 known worldwide examples of the original BMW 328 – the car that defined BMW's as ultimate driving machines in pre-war Germany. Built between 1936 and 1940, 328's won the Mille Miglia in '38 and the RAC Rally in '39. They were even in the running for the car of the century back at the end of the 1900's. These are some of the most sought after BMW's in the world. Ladies and gentlemen of the audience, please direct your attention to the gallery where you can see the car as it stands today. Would you believe us if we told you those parts are right now worth three hundred and fifty thousand Euro. Yeah, our jaws hit the floor too.
As you can see, the coach work is being painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up. All of that glimmering steel is hand worked to replace the lost or damaged. Each hammer stroke along the door frame can be seen, though only from the soon to be polished away scuff mark. The curve is smooth to the hand – planished to perfection. The manually rolled steel around the hood vent is so symmetrical it looks as if it just came off the press.
The engine (the one laying on its side, on a hand truck, under a blanket) was sourced from a technical school somewhere in Russia, and alone cost 25,000 Euro. Those are three original Solex carbs topped with steel mesh filters. Check out that cast aluminum radiator fan. So. Cool. We don't even know what to say more than that. Letting the pictures do the talking is about all we can do. How often do you fly into Germany and stare face to face with a legend being remade? Never, that's how often.