BMW 328

:"Note: This article describes the BMW 328 of 1937 - 1939. There have also been cars called BMW 328i and 328Ci made since the 1990s as models of the BMW 3 Series"

Infobox Automobile


name = BMW 328
manufacturer = Bayerische Motorenwerke
parent_company =
aka =
production = 1936–1940
464 producedCite web|url=http://www.bmwccn.no/eng/chapter2/articles/roadster2.htm|title=328 Roadster|accessdate=2008-08-30|work=bmwccn.no]
assembly =
predecessor = none
successor = none
class = Sports car
body_style = Roadster
layout = FR layout
platform =
engine = 1971 cc straight-6
transmission = 4-speed manual
wheelbase = convert|2400|mm|in|1|abbr=on
length = convert|3900|mm|in|1|abbr=on
width = convert|1550|mm|in|1|abbr=on
height = convert|1400|mm|in|1|abbr=on
ground_clearance =
front_track =
rear_track =
weight = convert|830|kg|lb|0|abbr=on
top_speed =
fuel_capacity =
related =
similar =
designer = The BMW 328 is 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, 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.

After the Second World War, the manufacturing plant in Eisenach where the 328 had been built found itself in the Russian occupation zone, and automobile manufacturing in Eisenach would follow a state directed path until German Reunification in 1989. 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.

The engine 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.

* other sources say 4500 rpm.

References

* "BMW 328: From roadster to legend" by Rainer Simons, 328pp, Bentley Publications 2004, ISBN 0-8376-1231-4

External links

* [http://www.bmwworld.com/models/vintage/328_mille_miglia.htm BMW World: BMW 328 Mille Miglia]
* [http://www.blanc-chateau.com BMW 328 Collector's Car]