BMW – 328 (1937)

After taking over Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, BMW achieved its international breakthrough with the 328 model and established the reputation of the company as a manufacturer of sports cars. Numerous successes in motor sport proved the superior performance of this fast and compact sports car. The 328 generated significant cachet and respect for the marque from Munich and its

automobile production facility in Eisenach, particularly since there were good reasons for the superior performance. BMW had opted for an innovative aluminium cylinder head with hemispherical com- bustion chambers and V-shaped overhead valves that benefited from precise, complex timing on the exhaust side. This example passed through the factory gates on 30th April 1937 as number 14 out of a total of only 464 BMW 328 roadsters built. In addition, it is one of only 18 that were ordered from the factory in a black livery. The car’s owner is even more interesting! In 1938, Huschke von Hanstein won the German Sports Car Hillclimb Championship at the wheel of this very car. The Racing Baron – the moniker he was known by – also campaigned in the black 328 in races at the Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring. Even after the car was sold in 1951, the subsequent Race Director at Porsche never lost sight of his BMW. From 1957, the car was located in the USA, before it joined the collection of the current owner after having been restored in 2020.