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**White Shark** · 08-05-2010, 03:24 AM

coool back to the game!!!!

**reak6ion** · 08-05-2010, 08:59 AM

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.592 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/302)

U could c from the car's shape and aerodynamics that bmw was well ahead of the game at that time!!! The 328 Kamm will always remains the reference as for racing in bmw brand and of course a single piece of art...

**reak6ion** · 09-05-2010, 02:16 AM

Will the Real Mille Miglia Please Stand Up?

Today we brought news that the soon-to-be-see Z4 sDrive35is will soon debut a special edition called the Z4 sDrive35is: Limited Edition Mille Miglia. The car certainly will not disappoint either – with 340HP, Dual-clutch transmission, custom 19 inch wheels and a revised M-designed body kit – in addition to a number of other sporting aspects both inside an out to distinguish the standard “iS” Z4 over the Limited Edition.

For those unaware, the Mille Miglia(meaning One Thousand Miles) was a famous, world-renown race focused around sports car racing not unlike an older version of the WRC combined with GT racing across the open Italian countryside. While it was an excelerating testament to man and machine it was also an often deadly, unecessarily risky venture resulting in the death of drivers and bystanders alike.

However, despite the danger, there was a long line of drivers and manufacturers lining up to prove themselves against the clock and each other – storming across the idyllic countryside, juxtaposed to the brutal racing that would be carried out on the narrow Italian roads. The “MM” as the race was known saw the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and many others entering to demonstrate what their best engineering could do over a 1,000 mile endurance race. It was the kind of race that drivers of today would never consider entering just due to the potential dangers that lay at every turn.

BMW generated quite a name for themselves in the pre-World War II era with the iconic 328 winning its class for the 1938 Mille Miglia and then going on to an overall victory in 1940 as the tides of war began to sweep across Europe. Needless to say, BMW developed a reputation as a world-class competitor for major sportscar events ( this isn’t including the BMW 328’s victory first in class/fifth overall victory at the 1940 Le Mans). So if you think about it – the Mille Miglia name should stand for quite a lot to BMW as a defining racer early on in the company’s legacy as a manufacturer of sporting cars.

So why is it that the “Mille Miglia” name, with such a presence in the history of the brand, is being attached to the special edition of the hotted-up Z4? I have no doubt that the Z4 sDrive35is will be an incredible car( I’m itching to get my hands on it) but that being said, why couldn’t we just have a “streetable” verison of the 328 Mille Miglia Concept Coupe that debuted at the decadent Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2006?

In looking at BMW’s existing line-up, there is no flagship vehicle that could tie in the principles of the company to an elegant yet sexy design – especially a coupe. In the 1990’s the 8 Series ( an incredible car hampered in sales due to poor economic timing) and in the early 2000’s we had the Z8 – a veritable throwback to the legendary 507. Retro is a played out theme in the automotive world right now thanks to Ford, GM and Chrysler cashing in on their respective styling heritage of the late 1960’s but the 328 MM Coupe Concept just oozes with panache and style that manage to set it apart from anything else out there right now – retro or not - with a strong mix of avant garde cues such as the striking slash across the body denoting the brake lamps.

The 328 MM Coupe Concept(based on the previous E85 platform, first generation Z4) debuted at the 2006 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este – Lake Como, Italy to us common folk - and widely received acclaim for its near-timeless design as a throwback to the legacy of the 1930’s and ’40’s but with a modern styling flair from the era of Banglian design that has forever altered the path of BMW’s exterior renderings. The underpinnings of the car (drivetrain, platform, etc.) came straight from a E85 Z4 M Coupe – a suitable donor if ever one – to motivate the 328 MM Coupe Concept.

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With that said, why attach the Mille Miglia name to a “Limited Edition” of a car that has barely been released in the United States and Europe?

I suppose I understand the correlation between the drop-dead gorgeous drophead that is the E89 Z4 and the historic 328 Coupe open-top( it was success as both the coupe and open racer) but why cash in historic relevance on a successful name on such an early model that will surely be successful like the Z4 sDrive35is?

Why not just give the world what it wants and provide a flagship or one-off model?

Something unique, brilliant, elegant and high performance. With the Z8, it was a Heidi Klum of early 2000’s sportscars when it came out – many would directly compare it to the Mercedes-Benz SL Class but the Z8 was truly a class of its own with its rugged, masculine looks but with a penchant for history in its cues – a car for both past and present and one that lives on as a special car denoted through its near-new grey market pricing.. Bring back this magic with the 328 Mille Miglia Coupe Concept in the form of a production car to lead at the head of the pack of an already impressive line of brooding Bavarians.

Give us the avante garde styling and sculpted, deeply creased lines of the coupe with its GINA-Concept-influenced body with the guts of a champion sports car – perhaps something like a Z4 sDrive35is?

Call it a suggestion, but either give us our flagship or reserve the name deep-rooted in a motoring history for a true soul successor to the original 328 Mille Miglia of pre-war legend!

Source: bmwblog.com

**reak6ion** · 09-05-2010, 02:24 AM

BMW 328 Buegelfalte Roadster sells for $5.6 million in auction

One of the world’s most significant pre-war sports racing cars, the one-of-a-kind 1937 BMW 328 Mille Miglia ‘Buegelfalte’ went to auction in Monaco on May 1 at the Grimaldi Forum. The unique BMW 328 Buegelfalte Roadster signature collector car at the RM Auction was reportedly sold post-bidding at more than $5.6 million.

This car is the only special roadster ever built at the BMW factory in Munich, has numerous race wins to its credit (including a Mille Miglia class win) and became the pattern for a whole generation of post-war sports cars.

BMW had been actively involved in sports racing activity in the pre-war years and had enjoyed significant successes with its technically advanced, high-performance 328 model. Chassis 85032 was manufactured in May 1937 as a standard-bodied car for Rudolf Schleicher´s Experimental Department at BMW. The car participated in the 1937 Le Mans with the well-known British driver of the period, A.F.P. Fane, as well as the 1937 Tourist Trophy in the hands of H.G. Dobbs.

In autumn 1939, the car was dismantled at the BMW factory’s racing division in Milbertshofen before being extensively re-engineered and used as the basis for even more streamlined bodywork in preparation for the 1940 season and the Mille Miglia in particular. To that end, BMW built both an aerodynamic coupé and this lightweight open roadster.

Extensive modifications to 85032 included lowering the engine and driveline in the chassis to reduce the body’s frontal area and lower the center of gravity to improve handling. Its design is credited to Wilhelm Kaiser, a very experienced member of BMW’s new design department, headed by chief stylist Wilhelm Meyerhuber. A 1:10 scale model was tested in the wind tunnel of pioneering aerodynamicist Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wunibald Kamm, with a long, tapered tail that took advantage of the lowered engine and profile.

Magnesium was even used in the braking system, comprised of Alfin drum brakes with a Duplex system front and rear. The 17-inch steel disc wheels have riveted light metal rings, and the tyres were specially made by Continental for the Mille Miglia, so the car could go the entire distance without changing tyres. In true racing fashion, the rear leaf spring suspension was adjustable, controlled with additional stabilising bars. Even the hubs were super-light special edition units, as was much of the hardware, aluminium nuts, screw heads and the like.

Following its completion at BMW’s Milbertshofen works, the Bügelfalte BMW was tested on the autobahns near BMW’s Munich headquarters. One can only imagine what contemporary motorists must have thought as this space-age streamliner blasted by at unheard-of speeds!

The coachwork of two more roadsters and a second streamlined coupé was entrusted to Touring in Milan, which had the capacity of finishing them before the 1940 Mille Miglia. It should be noted that these two “second series” Touring-bodied roadsters had their complete mechanics and tubular substructure completed in Munich, before the bodywork was completed in Milan. As such, they did not have the characteristic “trouser crease” fenders.

During the war, the Bügelfalte roadster was given to Albert Speer, the Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition (Armaments and Munitions). Remarkably, it survived five years of world war and was seized by Russia as reparations. The Russians awarded it to Artiom Ivanovich Mikoyan, head of the Mikoyan i Gurevich Design Bureau, creator of the famed MiG fighters. Mikoyan let his son use it, but the boy’s escapades eventually exhausted his father’s patience, and he traded the Bügelfalte in 1972 to Guido Adamson of Riga, Latvia, for a Lada, a vehicle much less inclined to excite the fantasies of a young man.

With the collapse of the “Iron Curtain,” Adamson drove the Bügelfalte from Riga to Munich and entrusted it to BMW’s care, using it occasionally, most particularly in the 1991 Mille Miglia Storica where it was featured on a BMW poster commemorating the event.

It was acquired by its present owner from Mr. Adamson in 2001 and, for the last decade, has been serviced and maintained by the expert specialists at Tom Fischer Classic & Race Car Service. Working in conjunction with BMW 328 engine specialist Georg Thiele and with utmost attention to originality, the complete mechanicals, including engine, front and rear axle and brake system, have been rebuilt.

Source: bmwblog.com

**reak6ion** · 12-05-2010, 02:24 PM

BMW 328 Touring Coupé wins the 2010 Mille Miglia

70 years after its victory in the 1940 Mille Miglia, the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé has once again emerged as the winner of this tradition-steeped Italian event. Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani authoritatively steered the Coupé through the numerous trials and clocked up the 1,000 miles through Italy without a single technical hitch.

Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Leitner rounded off the BMW triumph by coming third in a series-production BMW 328, clinching another parallel to the Mille Miglia of 70 years ago when a BMW likewise finished in third place. “Victory by Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani along with third place achieved by Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Leitner are a marvellous example of teamwork,” commented Karl Baumer, Director of BMW Classic. “Both the blind understanding between the crews inside the cars and the cooperation with the mechanics along the way worked out perfectly. And for that I would like to say thank you to all those involved,” Baumer added.

The journey to the Italian race venue itself proved just how well the cars of 1940 have kept up their prowess. They made their way from Munich to Brescia not on the back of race transporters but under their steam, just as they had done 70 years ago. “It was the perfect dress rehearsal for the race,” noted Baumer. Nor were the drivers bothered by the inclement weather during their crossing of the Alps, wrapped up as they were in weatherproof BMW Motorrad gear. During the Mille Miglia itself, the weather was also up to its tricks.

From 27 degrees Celsius on the Adriatic to near-freezing in snow and fog on Monte Terminillo, the teams were put through the whole gamut of the Italian climate. “But the trials and tribulations are quickly forgotten once all the participants – teams and cars – have made it safely across the finish line,” summed up Karl Baumer. “And our great result is the icing on the cake.”

Source: bmwblog.com

**Wazif** · 12-05-2010, 04:04 PM

the cars are so tiny :P

**reak6ion** · 13-05-2010, 11:58 AM

those tiny bits started bmw racing history :)

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BMW at the 2010 Mille Miglia

BMW at the 2010 Mille Miglia

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