BMW 320 Turbo Group-5 (E21) (1978)

1978 BMW E21 320 Turbo Group-5 Lightweight  - Chassis R4-05 

– Drivers in period Hans Stuck, Ronnie Peterson and Jim Busby 

Built in 1978 by BMW Motorsport. The last 320 built and one of only two “Lightweight” 320s. Driven by Hans Stuck and Ronnie Peterson at Silverstone and The Nurburgring. Sent to Jim Busby in late 78 to create competition for the McLaren team. Already having experience with his early chassis 320 Turbo, Jim knew the chassis could use some reinforcement as it would flex and not respond well to chassis adjustments. The decision was made to have his Crew Chief Glen Blakely design and fabricate a semi tube frame for the car including a removable front subframe and the movement of the engine, transmission and driver to the rear by about 10 inches. At the same time, some careful rule book reading led Jim to decide to add the aero rear window to clean up the airflow to the wing. The lightweight 320s are quite different from the earlier 320s as they have a heavily revised cooling system, longer and wider rear semi trailing arms, revised suspension geometry and some unique materials used for weight savings. In 1980 this car went to Australia to Frank Gardner and Allen Grice. Allen spent a small amount of time with the car and Jim Richards was brought in with JPS sponsorship. The team was very successful until a startline crash at Adelaide ended it’s season.