Bayerische Motoren Werke - February 2005
Vic Donnell
In a barn in South Austin negotiations are underway to bring this honey home for restoration. Jan says, "Wanna bet?"
This is a 1932 BMW 3/20 PS sedan. This one might need a little work to make it look like the restored version below. What do you think?
The Bayerische Motoren Werke (a.k.a., Bavarian Motor Works) was established in either 1916 or 1917 depending on the historical reference you use. Line of business was to build land, sea, and air vehicles, automobiles, and bicycles. For a while, BMW succeeded in the manufacture of airplane engines and motorcycles, especially due to the World War I demand for aircraft. They fell on hard times after the war until restrictions of the Versailles Treaty were relaxed a bit.
By 1928, management at BMW was ready to march into auto production in a real way. They purchased the auto plant in Eastern Germany that built the Austin under license and they began to build that car as the Dixi 3/15. BMW engineers began re-engineering the little English car until in 1932 they could escape the licensing issues and began building the first real BMW automobile. They built four body styles: Limousine, tourer, convertible and roadster. This will be a cute little car when it is done. Don’t you think so? I would tell you where this car is but you’d beat a path to this poor old fella’s door and he wouldn’t get any rest. Oh well, you know who it is anyway. The car is a BMW, right?
