Lot 324: 1935 BMW 319 Sport

Until 1928 BMW's main line of business was aero engines and it did not make cars until it bought the Dixi company, which made Austin Sevens under licence. Although BMW was late on the scene, it established a towering reputation in a very few years. A six cylinder engine was made in 1933 and from 1934 onwards its Type 319 sports model began to appear in competition results, first as a 1 litre car, then as a 2.0 litre - in which guise it was capable of over 80mph with road manners to match, courtesy of independent, transverse leaf front suspension and a well-controlled live rear axle - which led the company to look seriously at competition and to explore ways of increasing performance. Rudolf Schleicher designed a new cylinder head, cast from aluminium, which gave most of the advantages of a dual overhead camshaft head but without major retooling. It used the existing camshaft to activate six pushrods to short rockers which operated the inlet valves, while another six pushrods went to rockers which then operated short pushrods across the top of the head to another set of rockers which activated the exhaust valves. With triple Solex carburettors, power increased to over 80bhp - and up to 135bhp would be seen on tuned engines. It was a brilliant solution and although it sounds complicated, the engine was exceptionally reliable. After the World War Two it was produced by Bristol and stayed in production until 1961, by which time it had a fabulous record of competition successes. Great names such as Frazer-Nash, Cooper, Lotus, AC and Lister won hundreds of races and continued to do so even after the engine was phased out. The 319 was thus BMW's first true sports car and, even though it was made in very small numbers, just 230 between 1934 and 1937, it played a major part in establishing the German marque's reputation. Manufactured in April 1935 and supplied to Mainz BMW dealer Kraft on May 2nd that year, this 319 was subsequently owned by a German count and was imported to Great Britain in the late 1970s by TT Workshops which then prepared the car for competition use. This work included fitment of a 328 type heavy-duty rear axle, a Bristol competition crankshaft and oil pump, triple rather than twin SU carburettors, a purpose-made stainless steel exhaust system, hydraulically operated brakes, a one-shot chassis lubrication system and a 12 rather than six volt electrical system. During 2005 and early 2006 the BMW was completely restored - this included a new ash frame, refurbished chassis and body panels and rebuilt mechanical components - at a cost in excess of £40,000. In the current ownership of a Vintage Sports Car Club member and pre-war car collector for the past three years, chassis 55008 comes with a history file that includes receipts for and photographs of the restoration, assorted correspondence, parts list, British V5 registration document and a British MoT test certificate valid until October 2008. Finished in Brantz Blue, this charming, delightful, rapid and rare 319 Sports - a veteran of the Carrera Panamericana, Swiss ice races, British hill climbs and a winner of the VSCC's Stanley Cup - is offered in good condition and is an ideal entrant for numerous historic race and rally events.Dieser BMW 319 wurde im April 1935 gebaut und an den BMW Vertragshndler Kraft in Mainz am 2. Mai des gleichen Jahres ausgeliefert. Danach befand sich der Wagen im Besitz eines deutschen Grafen. Ende der 70er Jahre fand der BMW dann den Weg nach England, wo er von der Firma TT Workshops zum Renneinsatz umgebaut wurde. Diese Arbeiten umfassten den Einbau einer Hinterachse vom Typ eines BMW 328, eine Bristol Wettbewerbskurbelwelle und lpumpe, drei SU-Vergaser, eine speziell angefertigte Auspuffanlage, hydraulische Bremsen, eine Zentralschmierung sowie den Umbau von 6 auf 12 Volt-Elektrik. In den Jahren 2005 und 2006 erfolgte dann eine umfassende Restaurierung mit neuem Holzrahmen, ?berholtem Fahrgestell, Karrosserie und Mechanik, die mehr als £ 40.000 ( 55.000) kostete. Fahrgestellnummer 55008 wird mit einer fotografischen Dokumentation der Restaurierung und den entsprechenden Rechnungen, Teilekatalog, verschiedenem Schriftverkehr und der englischen Zulassungspapiere (V5) angeboten. Ein idealer Wagen fr den Einsatz in zahllosen historischen Veranstaltungen.