Photo: RM Sotheby's
There is not much to glean from the information available on Sotheby's website regarding this particular 1938 BMW 328 Roadster, but the mere mention of the pre-war racer conjures up memories of a remarkable lightweight, well-engineered, and nimble racer.
The 328 Roadster lineage began in April of 1936 and was a regular presence in contemporary motorsports events of the period courtesy of BMW's Works team. In fact, the very first car to roll off the assembly line chassis no. 85001 would wind up placing 1st overall at the Eifelrennen Nürburgring with Ernst Henne behind the wheel.
Once the car was delivered to customers twelve months after production started, Roadsters began to show up at racing events to compete alongside factory-backed cars at events such as the Grand Prix des Frontières, Bucharest Grand Prix, and Eläintarhanajo in Finland.
It would rack up 328 victories in 125 events including 1-2-3 finishes at the Mille Miglia; an open-road motorsport endurance race that was thirteen times before World War II. Roadsters would go on to compete LeMans and also the shortened version of the Mille Miglia, thanks to some fine-tuning that enabled the car to vault from a standstill to 100 kp/h (62.14 mph) in just 8.8 seconds.
By the fall of 1939, a total of just 464 328 Roadsters had been built, but they would continue to make their presence known on the race course through the 1950s.
This example is being offered by Sotheby's at their Motorworld Munich auction on November 26, 2022. The auction house cautions that the car entered the European Union on a temporary import bond which means any potential buyer must cancel the bond by either exporting back outside the EU with the proper documents or paying the applicable VAT. In addition, the auction house indicates the car has been sitting for some time and will need a mechanical inspection prior to it being deemed road worthy.
Regardless of the minutiae involved in acquiring this classic, the car appears to be a fabulous example of a tried and true racer of a bygone era. Sotheby's expects the 328 Roadster to bring in up to 600,000 euros ($621,750).
Once the car was delivered to customers twelve months after production started, Roadsters began to show up at racing events to compete alongside factory-backed cars at events such as the Grand Prix des Frontières, Bucharest Grand Prix, and Eläintarhanajo in Finland.
It would rack up 328 victories in 125 events including 1-2-3 finishes at the Mille Miglia; an open-road motorsport endurance race that was thirteen times before World War II. Roadsters would go on to compete LeMans and also the shortened version of the Mille Miglia, thanks to some fine-tuning that enabled the car to vault from a standstill to 100 kp/h (62.14 mph) in just 8.8 seconds.
By the fall of 1939, a total of just 464 328 Roadsters had been built, but they would continue to make their presence known on the race course through the 1950s.
This example is being offered by Sotheby's at their Motorworld Munich auction on November 26, 2022. The auction house cautions that the car entered the European Union on a temporary import bond which means any potential buyer must cancel the bond by either exporting back outside the EU with the proper documents or paying the applicable VAT. In addition, the auction house indicates the car has been sitting for some time and will need a mechanical inspection prior to it being deemed road worthy.
Regardless of the minutiae involved in acquiring this classic, the car appears to be a fabulous example of a tried and true racer of a bygone era. Sotheby's expects the 328 Roadster to bring in up to 600,000 euros ($621,750).
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