‘Only 462 examples of the 328 were produced, yet wherever it appeared its path was paved with gold medals, first prizes and best times.’ Horst Mönnich, The BMW Story – A Company in its Time.

This example was manufactured and delivered in May 1937 to Fendler and Lüdemann who were located in Hamburg, Germany. It found its first owner in Hans Ernst Polack of Stuttgart where it remained for its early life. 

Some time later John Fildes of Preston imported the car to the UK. It remained in his hands until 1967 when 85038 was sold to Lord Doune, custodian of the extensive Doune Collection of cars at Doune Motor Museum in Scotland. For a considerable period of time the car was inactive but it later became the subject of a major restoration project for Lord Doune, which started in earnest in the 1990s.

Lord Doune’s intention for restoring the BMW was to use it as his everyday car when he was residing in France, hence his need for it to be reliable and sound. Lord Doune commissioned Anthony Haig (nephew of Betty Haig, the well-known Frazer Nash expert) to manage the restoration and the subsequent bills – included in the car’s history file – record a spend in the region of £40,000 at that time, illustrating the level, details and depth of the works. The hood mechanism and weather gear were returned to the car’s original specification, along with the replacement of the synthetic upholstery with a red leather hide.

The car was subsequently purchased by its current owner in 2003 and shipped to his home in Italy. To attend to the BMW he retained the services of GPS Classic, a well-known Italian restoration and race preparation stable for historic sports and racing cars.

The car, registration number MAS 706, is offered for sale with full FIVA papers and presents an opportunity to own one of these legendary, beautifully engineered machines. The BMW 328 was an extravagant tour de force for BMW, resulting in a project that famously made no profit for the German marque pre-war. However, it quickly acquired a reputation as the fastest production sports car in the world. In the words of Horst Mönnich, the 328 was ‘Light, torsion-resistant, safe and fast – safer and faster than anything they had previously built on four wheels.’