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What Car is This?


pmg

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Was going through some German racing events (ADAC Eifelrennen 2012) and came across this mystery, vintage BMW:

 

http://imgur.com/a/1eDyd (link to gallery)

 

LtM5Bdr.jpg

 

You can see it in the top left of this still frame. It comes in at 1minutes 6 seconds:

 

And again, here in the middle of the pack at 4minutes and 34 seconds (car number 96): 

 

License Plate "FRI U3H" in the above photos and video.

 

It looks sort of like a hot-rodded 328 Mille Miglia edition (see below) with a custom grille but I can't seem to dig up anything more.

 

RHKu9Wf.jpg

Edited by pmg
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After a lot of digging, it looks like it is either a BMW 328 Cotura or a 1939 Neumaier/clone.

 

The car is so rare (only 2 or 3 were made) I'm not sure I can believe it is original. The grill and hood are very different than the other two Cotura's I've seen.

 

Backstory: shortly before BMW closed up shop to focus on Aircraft engine production for WWII they were making the 328 roadsters. These cars were grately prized during the 50's for racing leagues that began cropping up and were highly modified by a bunch of different companies Frazer-Nash (UK), Autenrieth, Gläser, Graber, Vereinigte Werkstätten, DHC, Stromlinie, Wendler, NSKK, Neumaier-BMW, Baur, Drauz, Reutter and most notably the racing teams of Bristol, Veritas, EMW (yes, the Soviet BMW), Volpini, and Co van der Tuyn.

 

These factories and race teams were generally taking the triple carb found in the 6 cylinder 328 and souping them up and dropping off whatever panels they thought they could do without. "Co van der Tuyn Racing" made three Co(vander)Tu(yn)Ra(cing) or CoTuRa RS models. Neumaier-BMW, likewise had something similar.

 

You can see the Neumaier here on the right: S84tFEL.jpg

 

You can see the Cotura here:

bmw-328-rs-cotura-04.jpg

 

Two different photographers credits the mystery car in question as a 1949/1950 Cotura but from the photos it looks much more like a Neumaier. Specifically the Neumaier Spezial seen on this page: http://www.dixi-automobile.de/0308.htm - Anton Neumaier built 12 variations of this car to compete in 1100s, 1500s, and 2-liter classes. The double seater is almost certainly the 2-liter model.

BK3lIP3.jpg

 

All in all, the 328 was a popular model made just before BMW went dark. It enjoyed a spirited life as one of the preferred cars of choice for racing in the years just before and after WWII before the German automotive companies could rebuild. The British imported these cars under Frazer-Nash and went on to win the 1947 Le Mans

 

1951-FRAZER-NASH-LE-MANS-REPLICA.jpg

Edited by pmg
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