A superb and rare photo of the amazing BMW 328 Touring Coupe factory racing car of 1939. The photographed car would WIN its class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1939 AND it finished 5TH overall!

This actual car was commissioned by BMW from that company to compete in the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours, as the regulations now also permitted closed-bodied models. The Italian company Carrozzeria Touring boasted considerable experience and success (Alfa Romeo) with its so-called “superleggera” bodies, aluminium-panelled, extremely lightweight tubular constructions. They agreed to fit a BMW 328 chassis with a closed, lightweight body for the 1939 Le Mans within a limited schedule. In Munich, meanwhile, a BMW 328 engine which normally gave 80 bhp was being boosted to around 135 horsepower. The two-seater Coupé was completed just in time and proved not only very fast but extremely attractive in its design as well. It was rewarded with victory at Le Mans. The three BMW 328 models competing in the event claimed the top places in their class, with drivers Schaumburg-Lippe and Fritz Hans Wencher taking victory in what was described as a “streamlined closed-top” – the BMW 328 Touring Coupé. The car had proved remarkably superior to the competition, clocking an average speed of 132.8 km/h, which surpassed the previous record by around 10%. At 5th place overall, the elegantly styled BMW had only conceded defeat to much larger racing cars powered by engines with a displacement capacity of 3 to 4.5 litres!

The BMW 328 sports car was designed by Fritz Fiedler and in production between 1936 and 1940. 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, proving to be suitable not only for the BMW factory drivers, but also perfect for everyday motoring.

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. The engine of the BMW 328 has hemispherical or cross flow combustion chambers. The intake valves are opened by the usual overhead valve push rod arrangement of a side cam, push rods, and rocker arms. The exhaust valves, on the other side of the cylinder head, are opened by the same cam shaft, vertical push rods, rocker arms, horizontal push rods, and a second set of rocker arms. In 1999 the BMW 328 was named one of 25 finalists for Car of the Century by a worldwide panel of automotive journalists.

Even at the prototype stage the BMW 328 already held out the promise of a phenomenal career. Following its racing debut and victory in the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring on 14th June 1936, with Ernst Henne at the wheel, the BMW 328 sports car was to emerge as a motor racing legend. By the 1950s, at the end of its active racing career, it could look back on more than 200 triumphs. No other car in its class boasted a similar tally of successes. Apart from the classic 328 roadsters with BMW factory bodies, the end of the 1930s saw the production of some racing versions with lightweight bodywork based on the latest aerodynamic advances. The most famous model among this exclusive group was a BMW 328 Coupé commissioned from the renowned coachbuilders Touring of Milan in 1938/39 to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours, as the regulations now also permitted closed-bodied models. The Italian company Carrozzeria Touring boasted considerable experience and success (Alfa Romeo) with its so-called “superleggera” bodies, aluminium-panelled, extremely lightweight tubular constructions. They agreed to fit a BMW 328 chassis with a closed, lightweight body for the 1939 Le Mans within a limited schedule. In Munich, meanwhile, a BMW 328 engine which normally gave 80 bhp was being boosted to around 135 horsepower. The two-seater Coupé was completed just in time and proved not only very fast but extremely attractive in its design as well. It was rewarded with victory at Le Mans. The three BMW 328 models competing in the event claimed the top places in their class, with drivers Prince Schaumburg-Lippe and Hans Wencher taking victory in what was described as a “streamlined closed-top” – the BMW 328 Touring Coupé. The car had proved remarkably superior to the competition, clocking an average speed of 132.8 km/h, which surpassed the previous record by around 10%. At 5th place overall, the elegantly styled BMW had only conceded defeat to much larger racing cars powered by engines with a displacement capacity of 3 to 4.5 litres. For the next racing season, which was to be BMW’s last for the time being on account of the war, the company had even more ambitious plans. In 1940 the Mille Miglia, the world’s most famous and gruelling car race, was resumed on a new circuit after a one-year break following a horrific accident during the 1938 event. Instead of passing through the middle of towns and villages between Brescia and Rome, the new circuit was akin to a high-speed course along well-surfaced country roads between Brescia, Mantua and Cremona. Facing yet another battle against the clock, BMW managed to build five special 328 models with lightweight bodies for this race, known as the 1st Gran Premio Brescia delle Mille Miglia and starting in Brescia on 28th April 1940. Three of the BMWs were open-topped sports cars, one was a streamlined coupé developed in Munich, and the fifth was the triumphant model from Le Mans. With some of the most famous racing drivers of their time at the wheel, including Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer in the BMW 328 Touring Coupé, these five cars were eventually driven in convoy across the Alps under their own steam in March 1940 – there was a lot of training to be done in Italy.  Despite the political turmoil of the time, the starter’s flag came down on 28th April. By virtue of its high-speed character, this race was regarded as a touchstone of the latest racing technology. Even Mercedes’ race manager Alfred Neubauer had travelled to Italy to assess the technological state of the art among the competition, though no Mercedes models were involved in the race. From the outset, von Hanstein and Bäumer in the victorious Le Mans model placed themselves in front, closely followed by the second BMW 328 Coupé and the favourites of the race, the Alfa Romeos. Racing right at the limit throughout, the drivers of the Touring Coupés denied their rivals any chance of catching up with them. Cheered on by a jubilant crowd, the streamlined BMW eventually crossed the start/finish line as overall winner after nine laps and almost 1,000 miles. The spectators had to wait a full quarter of an hour before the second-placed car, a higher-capacity 2.5-litre Alfa Romeo, crossed the line. Drivers von Hanstein and Bäumer in the BMW 328 Touring Coupé claimed a phenomenal victory with an incredible average speed of 166.724 km/h, a mythic achievement in the history of international motor racing which survives to this day. No other car has had a more enduring and colourful impact on the history of BMW motorsport. It was the intelligent application of the very latest technologies which played a crucial role in this success. This involvement in the Gran Premio delle Mille Miglia was to mark the final public appearance of the BMW 328 for the remainder of the war. The BMW racing division was disbanded in early 1941, and its director Ernst Loof along with the majority of his employees were sent to Paris by the Luftwaffe to work in an aero-engine repair shop. The further fate of the BMW 328 Coupé during the war remains uncertain. While the other BMW racing models and test rigs were evacuated to various secret locations in Bavaria, all trace of this car was initially lost. When the Allies occupied Germany in May 1945, the car resurfaced and was confiscated by US officers shortly afterwards. One of the Mille Miglia 328s (disguised as a Frazer Nash) and BMW's technical plans for the car were taken from the bombed BMW factory by English representatives from the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Frazer Nash companies. Fiedler, the BMW engineer, was persuaded to come too. Bristol Cars was set up to build complete cars, called Bristols, and would also supply engines to Frazer Nash for all their post-war cars. The first Bristol car, the 400, was heavily based on the BMW plans. This Bristol engine was also a common option in AC cars, before the Cobra.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of BMW ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.

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