BMW is a marque that may appear relatively young in terms of motorsports accomplishments to many here in North America, but whose four wheeled racing efforts actually began just before the Second World War with what is perhaps today seen as one of the most quintessential small bore sports cars ever to run in anger, the Type 328.
In the mid 1930s, BMW saw itself growing at a tremendous rate; both as an aviation engine component supplier, and especially in the realm of motorcycle technology, where BMW was further developing what has come to be known as its signature boxer twin engine for the two wheeled market. The car market for BMW was growing steadily for the German manufacturer from Munich, and in late 1935 the firm passed out literature to those select customers who were thought to have the ability to help the marque make a full entry into the world of sports car racing. The press was deliberately left out of the loop and the information that select “friends of the company” received was meant to be nothing more than an appetizer of sorts, for the main dish was yet to come.
