Tag Archives: BMW

BMW 1600 GT

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1968 BMW 1600 GT

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | July 3, 2021

Photo – Dorotheum

Aside from the 507, BMW didn’t do sporty cars very well back in the day. So how did they up their game? Well, in 1966, they purchased Hans Glas GmbH, a company that, among other things, produced the Goggomobil and sports cars like 1300 GT and 1700 GT.

After BMW bought out Glas, they decided to drop the 1.6-liter M10 inline-four from the Neue Klasse 1600 into the sporty, Frua-bodied Glas 1700 GT. Output was rated at 103 horsepower. Styling changes were more or less limited to lighting revisions and the addition of the corporate kidney grilles.

Only 1,255 coupe examples of the 1600 GT were produced between 1967 and 1968. This car has known ownership history from new, having spent its early years in Italy. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $55,000-$73,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $64,978.

BMW Z8

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2001 BMW Z8

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 14, 2021

Photo – Mecum

The Z8 was BMW’s retro-inspired halo car that was sold between 2000 and 2002, with a revised Alpina Roadster available for 2003. The car was styled after BMW’s legendary 507 (one of, if not the first, car this site featured was a 507).

Power is from a 4.9-liter V8 rated at 395 horsepower. It could hit 60 in 4.2 seconds and was limited to a 155-mph top end. This car retains its factory body-color hardtop and is one of 62 built finished in red over Crema leather. A total of 5,703 Z8s were produced. While they are sought after today, their $128,000 base price when new did not move them off of dealer lots quickly 20 years ago.

That said, good luck picking one up for under $150,000 today. They’ve aged pretty well and are certainly a future classic. Click here for more info on this one, and here for more from Mecum in Monterey.

Update: Sold $247,500.

BMW 502 by Baur

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1956 BMW 502 Cabriolet by Baur

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | April 2021

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

The BMW 502 was the V8-powered version of BMW’s six-cylinder 501. The 501 went on sale in 1951 and the 502 in 1954. Confusingly, there was also a “501 V8” model sold, with a detuned version of the 502’s.

The 502 was also better appointed than the 501, which made it expensive. They only sold 190 in the first sales year. The standard body style was a sedan, but Baur-built coupes and cabriolets were also available. This car is one of 57 cabriolet examples.

This one is powered by a 3.2-liter V8 sourced from a later BMW 3200L. The 502 was Germany’s first post-war V8-powered car. With a single carburetor, this engine was rated at 140 horsepower when new. The removed factory 2.6-liter V8 is included with the car.

This car was restored between 2011 and 2013, and it looks pretty fantastic. It’s been at Pebble Beach and is being offered out of a museum. The bidding is already at $125,000 as of this writing, and it is scheduled to end two days from this posting. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $275,000.

2002 Turbo

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1974 BMW 2002 Turbo

Offered by Mecum | Glendale, Arizona | March 18-20, 2021

Photo – Mecum

This site doesn’t feature too many post-war German cars, but people love BMW’s 2002. The name was a little short-sighted, but I guess they never imagined having to try and Google “BMW 2002” only to get a ton of results for 2002 325Cis.

The 2002 was mixed in with a number of other visually similar but mechanically different models, including the 1602, 1802, 1502, 1600, and 1800. The 2002 went on sale for the 1968 model year and would be offered in base, cabriolet, ti, and tii forms through 1976. There was one model that topped all of those, and it was the Turbo, which was sold between 1973 and 1975. Only 1,672 examples were produced.

It was BMW’s first turbocharged production car and features a turbocharged, fuel-injected 2.0-liter M10 inline-four rated at 168 horsepower. Top speed was 130 mph. The Turbo is easily the most sought-after 2002 variant, with prices that can easily climb into the six figures. Check out more on this one here, and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $154,000.

BMW 3/15 Convertible

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1930 BMW Dixi 3/15 DA-2 Convertible

Offered by Dorotheum | Salzburg, Austria | October 17, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

The Dixi was an Austin Seven built under license in Germany beginning in 1928. In late 1928, Dixi was overtaken by BMW, and in 1929, the cars were re-badged as the BMW Dixi 3/15 DA-2. This model was produced from 1929 through 1931. Two more versions of the 3/15 would be produced through 1932, but the DA-2 was the last to carry the Dixi name.

Power is from a 747cc inline-four good for 15 horsepower. You could get a two-door sedan, a delivery van, or a convertible like the one you see here. Only 300 examples of the convertible were produced, and I’d bet there are very, very few left today.

For perspective, the 300 convertibles were out of an entire DA-2 production run of 12,318. This one has been restored and is expected to bring between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $17,069.

BMW 503 Cabriolet

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1958 BMW 503 Series II Cabriolet

Offered by Bonhams | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | October 11, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

In the mid-1950s, BMW had yet to have a real hit. They were still pushing Isettas on the German people, and alongside that, they were offering the ultra-exclusive 507 Roadster. Meanwhile, they were trying their hand at a luxury 2+2 with this, the 503.

Produced between 1956 and 1959, the 503 was powered by a 3.2-liter V8 that made 140 horsepower. The car could be had as a coupe or a convertible, and they all had four seats. This is a Series II example, the type of which was introduced in 1957. It featured a floor shifter for the four-speed manual transmission.

Only 413 examples of the 503 were built, and just 138 of those were drop-tops. This example was restored in 2002 and is certain to be its next owner’s ticket to any major car event worldwide. It is expected to bring between $410,000-$530,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

1932 BMW 3/20

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1932 BMW 3/20 AM1

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

Photo – Dorotheum

In 1904, a car company sprang up in Eisenach, Germany, that sold vehicles under the Dixi brand. In 1928, BMW took over that company. BMW dated back to 1916, but they didn’t produce their first car until after taking over Dixi. The Dixi 3/15 was an Austin Seven built under license, and they were branded as BMWs from 1929 through 1932.

The followup to the Dixi 3/15 was the BMW 3/20. That technically makes this the first BMW car, as the Dixi was not initially a BMW. It still used the Austin engine – a 788cc inline-four making 20 horsepower. The car itself was larger than its predecessor and was built in four versions, with this, the AM1, being the first.

The 3/20 was manufactured between 1932 and 1934. These early BMWs are very rare. Most pre-ware Bimmers offered at auction are just 328s. These are unusual. And interesting. It should bring between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $23,843.

Lola T296

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1976 Lola T296

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

Eric Broadley’s Lola Cars was a long-time race car manufacturer based out of the U.K. They built open-wheel and sports cars between 1958 and 2012. In the 1970s, one of their big focuses was prototype sports cars, which included fantastic-looking racers like this one.

The T290 series was introduced in 1972 and was produced for a few years in six different variants. In all, 108 examples of the series were built, including this T296, which was made for the 1976 season. It features an aluminum monocoque and was built to accept four-cylinder engines.

This was the first of eight T296 examples produced and was purchased new by Mader Racing Components. It’s competition history includes:

  • 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans – 52nd, DNF (with Georges Morand, Christian Blanc, and Frederic Alliot)
  • 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans – 40th, DNF (with Morand, Blanc, and Eric Vaugnat)
  • 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans – 48th, DNF (with Vaugnat, Daniel Laurent, and Jacques Boillat)

It’s competitive career ended after the 1980 season, but before the decade was out, the car was active again on the historic circuit. It featured a Ford-Cosworth engine in-period, but is now powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter BMW M12 inline-four. This car a green card into almost any historic automotive event, and it can now be yours. Click here for more info.

BMW M1 Procar

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1980 BMW M1 Procar

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

Photo – Girardo & Co.

How do you take one of the coolest “classical supercars” and make it look even more badass? Turn it into a killer race car for a one-make series, that’s how. BMW built 399 M1 road cars between 1978 and 1981, along with 53 race cars.

Those race cars were destined for the BMW M1 Procar Championship, a one-make series devised by the head of BMW Motorsport. Strange homologation rules sort of necessitated the series, which was run as a Formula One support series for the 1979 and 1980 seasons. The cars were also used in different sports car racing series all over the world.

M1 Procars were more or less ground-up race cars. They had big front and rear wings, among many other changes from the road cars, and they are powered by a 3.5-liter inline-six tweaked to make 470 horsepower (the road car made 273).

The race history for this car, #36, includes:

  • 1982 24 Hours of Daytona – 40th, DNF (with Joe Crevier, Fred Stiff, and Dennis Wilson)
  • 1982 12 Hours of Sebring – 19th (with Crevier, Paul Fassler, and Bob Zeigel)

The car was also driven by Al Unser Jr. prior to the 1982 season. It’s been completely restored and used in historic competition. The current owner bought it in 2012 and it’s now for sale in Europe. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2020, $913,000.

February 2020 Auction Highlights

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Before we dive back into February, we need to backtrack to Worldwide Auctioneers in Scottsdale. The top sale was this 1936 Auburn 852 SC Boattail Speedster for $880,000.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Duesenberg we featured sold for $605,000, and a previously-featured Chrysler concept car brought $742,500. The Bertone Mantide failed to sell. More results can be found here.

Onward to February and RM Sotheby’s in Paris. Top sale here? Well, this 1958 BMW 507 Series II went for $2,162,108.

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Hispano-Suiza and Gemballa Mirage failed to sell, but this previously-featured Isotta Fraschini sold for $267,386. Other sales included the Dyna-Veritas ($75,978) and the Spyker C8 ($267,386). Click here for final results.

Artcurial also had a sale during Retromobile, and the big Mercedes and Alfa Romeos we featured both failed to sell. Top sale territory was cornered by Ferrari, and this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB sold for $2,753,831. The 126 C3 F1 car we featured brought $1,583,200.

Photo – Artcurial

The DB HBR4 sold for $190,176, the Rolland-Pilain $25,575, and the Serenissima $990,226. The ToJ did not sell. Click here for more results.

The results of Silverstone Auctions’ Race Retro sale included this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that brought $918,184, more than anything else in the sale. The Countach we featured failed to sell, and more results are available here.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

And finally, for this round, we have Brightwells Leominster Classic & Vintage Cars sale. The TVR we featured failed to sell, and the overall top sale was this 1988 Porsche 911 Turbo for $109,611.

Photos – Brightwells

The Fordson pickup sold for $11,835. More results can be found here.