Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1936-1940 Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW 328 was a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, designed by Fritz Fiedler. It featured many advanced features for its time such as a tubular space frame and a hemispherical combustion chamber engine. It was much praised at the time for its performance and handling. The car won many races including the prestigious Mille Miglia — a class win in 1938 and the outright winner (with a streamlined body) in 1940. It also won the RAC Rally in 1939 and came in fifth overall (first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans 24 hours.
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BMW 328 (1936)
BMW 328 (1936) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1936 Source : netcarshow.com
In the mid-30s, production roadsters and competition cars were still very similar in technical terms – and motorsport was still the ideal place to prove the performance and reliability of a production car. But to keep up with the competition, BMW soon had to build cars with more power and muscle. So BMW’s engineers looked for ways and means to significantly increase engine output without increasing engine size. And they found the solution – the M328, the engine powering the legendary BMW 328 sports car in 1936.
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BMW 503 Coupe (1956)
BMW 503 Coupe (1956) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1956 Engine : V8, 140 brake horsepower (100 kW) and acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) Transmission : 4 speed manual transmission Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW 503 is a two door 2+2 seater sports car unveiled by BMW at the 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show. Production got under way during the summer of 1956, and by 1959, when the BMW 503 was withdrawn, 413 had been built, including 139 cabriolets.
The car was styled by the entrepreneurial auto-designer, Albrecht von Goertz, based on preliminary drafts prepared by Kurt Bredschneider. It was originally intended to feature a flamboyant shape incorporating rounded mudguards which would have emphasized its kinship with the BMW 502 sedan, but regulations concerning matters such as light positioning rendered such a form impractical. In retrospect, the more square cornered look of the car as it emerged with fully integrated wings may have been more in tune with future styling trends than the original proposal.
The BMW 503 incorporated the 3168 cc light metal V8 engine from the 502 which in this application delivered a claimed power output of 140 brake horsepower (100 kW) and acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 13 seconds along with a top speed of about 115 miles per hour (185 km/h). The four speed manual transmission was unchanged from that used in the 502, and was originally mounted remotely from both the engine and the rear axle, as on the 502. In September 1957, the drivetrain was redesigned, with the transmission being bolted directly to the engine, as with the 507, and with the shifter being relocated from the steering column to the floor.
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BMW 507 (1955)
BMW 507 (1955) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1955 Engine : OHV V-8, of 3.2 L Transmission : four-speed manual transmission Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW 507 was the brainchild of BMW importer Max Hoffman, who in 1954 persuaded the BMW management to produce a roadster version of the BMW 502 that could compete with Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz sports cars. Hoffman pushed for designer Count Albrecht von Goertz, who also designed the contemporary BMW 503, as the designer, over existing designs by Ernst Loof, whose sketches Hoffman felt were not commercially viable. Goertz was hired by BMW in November 1954. BMW engineer Fritz Friedler was assigned to design the mechanical package, using existing components wherever possible.
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BMW M1 Procar (1978)
BMW M1 Procar (1978) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1978 Engine : 3.5 L 6-cylinder, 277 PS (204 kW) Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW M1 is a supercar automobile, and was the first and only mid-engined BMW. It employed a twin-cam M88/1 3.5 L 6-cylinder engine, a version of which was later used in the E24 BMW M6/M635CSi and E28 BMW M5. The engine had six separate throttle butterflies, four valves per cylinder and produced 277 PS (204 kW) in the street version, giving a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph). Turbocharged racing versions were capable of producing around 850 hp.
The M1 coupe was hand-built between 1978 and 1981 under the Motorsport division of BMW as a homologation special for sports car racing. The body was designed by Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo show car. Originally, BMW commissioned Lamborghini to work out the details of the car’s chassis, assemble prototypes and manufacture the vehicles, but Lamborghini’s financial position meant that BMW reassumed control over the project in April 1978, after seven prototypes were built. Only 456 production M1s were built.
Though the car never saw a great deal of racing success, the M1 is remembered as a refined and civilized supercar in the true BMW tradition, with great handling and stellar build quality. In 2004, Sports Car International named the car number ten on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1970s.
BMW Z1 was a two-seater roadster introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1987 landing BMW over 5,000 initial orders, before the production even commenced. It was best known for its retractable doors which slide into the car’s body instead of being classically opened. BMW Z1 used plastic body panels which could easily be detached and reattached by the car’s owner. BMW claimed that it was possible to change the car’s color that way in about 40 minutes.
BMW Z1 was powered by a 2.5 liter inline-6 engine producing 170 hp (127 kW) and 222 Nm (164 ft·lb) of torque fitted with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Z1 could reach a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 9 seconds.
BMW Z1 Specifications
Displacement: 2494 cc
Max. Power: 170 PS (168 hp/125 kW) @ 5800 rpm
Max. Torque: 218 Nm (161 ft·lb) @ 4300 rpm
Compression Ratio: 8.8:1
Gearbox: 5-speed manual, rear wheel drive, axle ratio 3.64:1
Front suspension: McPherson axle, coil springs, stabilizing bar
Rear suspension: Lower trailing arms with diagonal rods, upper wishbones, coil springs, stabilizing bar
Brakes: Disc brakes , power assisted, ABS
Steering: Rack and pinion steering, power assisted
Body structure: Plastic body panels on unibody steel chassis with glued-in lower tub
Dry weight: 1290 kg (2844 lb)
Loaded weight: 1460 kg (3219 lb)
Track front/rear: 1456 mm (57.3″) / 1470 mm (57.9″)
Wheelbase: 2450 mm (96.5″)
Length: 3925 mm (154.5″)
Width: 1690 mm (66.5″)
Height: 1248 mm (49.1″) (with roof up: 1277 mm (50.3″))
Tire sizes: 225/45ZR16
Fuel tank capacity: 57 liter (15.1 US gal/12.5 imp gal)
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1955 Engine : one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine making 13 hp Source : netcarshow.com
BMW made the Isetta its own. They redesigned the powerplant around a more reliable BMW one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine making 13 hp. Although the major elements of the Italian design remained intact, BMW re-engineered much of the car, so much so that none of the parts between a BMW Isetta Moto Coupe and an Iso Isetta are interchangeable. The first BMW Isetta appeared in April, 1955.
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1989 Engine : V8 or V12-engined 2-door 2+2 coupe Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW 8 Series (chassis code BMW E31) was a V8 or V12-engined 2-door 2+2 coupe built by BMW from 1989 to 1999 with a top speed of 160 MPH. A common misconception is that the 8 Series was a successor for the original BMW 6 Series in 1989; instead it was an entirely new value proposition aimed at a different market with a substantially higher price point. A new 8 Series cost around US$100,000.
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BMW 1500 (1962)
BMW 1500 (1962) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1962 Engine : 1.5-litre four-cylinder with 80 hp Transmission : four-speed transmission Source : netcarshow.com
Waiting times averaged around half an hour. That’s how long you had to queue up at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) to get a close-up look at the star turn of the show – or indeed to sit inside it, if for no more than a hurried minute. “Anyone who was in the vast exhibition area, for whatever reason, felt drawn to the stand of the Bayerische Motoren Werke,” noted reporters from a leading German magazine, “or to be precise, to the new BMW mid-range car which until then had been a closely guarded internal secret but was now on public view for the first time at the BMW stand.”
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BMW 2002 (1968)
BMW 2002 (1968) 1
Manufacturer : BMW Productions : 1968 Source : netcarshow.com
The BMW New Class was a line of compact sedans launched with the 1962 1500. The four-cylinder BMW M10 engine used in these cars grew over the years from 1.5 to 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 L with the names changing to reflect this.
The New Class models featured a fully independent suspension with MacPherson struts in front and front disc brakes.
The sedan models (with numbers ending in “0″) were replaced by the larger BMW 5 Series in 1972. The ’02 series is not part of the New Class. The upscale 2000C and 2000CS coupes were replaced by the six-cylinder BMW E9 coupes, introduced in 1969 with the 2800CS.
Although they shared mechanicals such as engines, gearboxes, and differentials, the four-door New Class models shared little else in terms of parts and design with the two-door models.
Manufacturer : BMW
Productions : 1936-1940
Source : netcarshow.com
Engine : V8, 140 brake horsepower (100 kW) and acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph)
Transmission : 4 speed manual transmission