'38 BMW by juddman

3 minute(s) of a 27 minute read

Thanks for the comments. It is indeed ambitious, but the price was right and the car isn't missing anything terribly major (correct bumpers, taillights, and the clock) . There are a bunch of things that are incorrect because the car was driven for ~30 years but I'm only looking for a nice driver, not a perfectly correct trailer queen. It is actually one of the more solid unrestored 327s out there. Many have rusted much worse than this one though mine shows evidence of a heavy impact to the left front. Dad said it drove straight, the tires are worn evenly, and frame measurements are close to spec, so I'd guess it's straight enough to serve.

Honestly, my buddy's offer came as something of a surprise to me. I didn't expect it at all, but would have been foolish not to take him up on it. He is truly one of nature's noblemen.

@ Steve Braverman - Were you at the AACA show last weekend at Hallockville farm? I was surprised at the number of Franklins there. They seem to be really neat cars!

11-19-2011

More progress on the ancient BMW.

Wheel well repair and rear quarter roughed in:

Door stripped, showing prior repair:

Right side door fit (pretty nice):

Left side door fit (not so much)

Thanks a million Doug!

It's had more than that. It was pretty well crushed and rebuilt at least once with a number of significant spot repairs evident as well. The car was on the road for over 30 years prior to retirement and survived both WW2 and post war Germany. It may be apocryphal, but the legend that goes with the car says that one PO, A French officer, was killed in it. It'll never be a Pebble Beach car but she certainly has her ghosts.

Yup. BMW started off as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, then started making cars in the late 1920's. The first was called the Dixi, which was essentially the Austin 7 made under license. The 328 and this car were among BMWs earliest high end cars. Max Hoffman began importing BMWs to the US in the mid 60's - about the time my dad brought this car into the country (1965).