The BMW 328 homage celebrated, recalled and modernized the legendary 328 and marked the car of the car 75TH Anniversary in an outrageous way. From some as the best sports car of the 1930s – and considered a great success for BMW – the original 328 has probably determined the bar for all BMWs that came afterwards. Futuristic steps for the time, such as the use of light metals and the new suspension technology, contributed to the extraordinary performance and in periods of the 328. It is only fitting that BMW’s successor was assembled by one of the greatest with unprecedented attention to detail. That’s how it happened.
Design jumps: How the BMW 328 homage was born
The 328 homage was born in 2008 by Karl Baumer, the President of the BMW Classic Car Division. At that time, Baumer originally introduced himself an M1 reference piece. While that never came about, the same idea came in 2011 Adrian van Hoydonk. Now Adrian had actually driven an original 328 and the car had left an impression on him. With this jewel, the BMW Kernphilosophies shone before the war, as his words Steve Saxty showed in his book BMW from Design.
“Its light weight, six -cylinder engine and rear wheel drive really impressed me,” he says. With Concorso d’Elanza Villa d’Este around the corner and the once Budding Concept Cars category, BMW turned the existing connecteddrive concept into what we know today as 328 homage.
“Around the corner” would have buried the tour a little. The homage was a defined goal in January 2011, just four months before Villa d’Este. The designer Christopher Weil had the first crack in the 328 homage. Although the ConnectedDrive concept had only accepted shape, we borrowed generously and exactly in the right places. “I thought people may not notice that it was the same car when I changed their character by optimizing the right ingredients,” he says in Saxty’s book.
He claims that he had revised the main body line and changed the rocker panel underneath where the door would be. Of course, another difference was completely the lack of doors – “no budget”, explains Weil. Further changes were an obviously new radiator grille with lights with different styles.
Construction of the 328 homage: Z4 root, carbon fiber bowl and vintage soul
After the design is sorted, BMW sets up the work to build the wild concept. Carbon fiber bodies, glass fiber (made like carbon fiber) and alloy wheels that were styled after the original Loh Wheel style of the 328, gave the car the perfect mix of contemporary and vintage. The gross vehicle weight was only 780 kg – around £ 1720. Sattel leather padding was selected for its unique “aged” properties. When time kept life, BMW decided to work together with coachbuilders of Metalworks in California.
The appropriate 328 homage is BMW’s roadster of the day. A Z4 test car that was drawn from the car manufacturer’s California emission test system with 63,000 kilometers on the clock. The chassis is liberated and extended and proves to be perfect for additional reinforcements and the carbon fiber tub, which lies under the sheet metal – um, sheet of carbon fiber – the homage. Of course, this type of ingenuity has not done Really contribute to many cost savings. The 328 homage was still a multi -million dollar project. Consider the tailor -made alloy wheels, the CFRP construction and – above all – custom glass, which almost never get cars because it is just so expensive for production.
Inheritance of the 328 homage: a preview of the design of the design of BMW?
Finally, in May 2011, the 328 homage in Concorso d’Elanza Villa d’Este landed with another concept car ordering like leather straps that flank the outside, and a display that includes two iPhones. How far did we get! Regardless of this, today it is a great indication of a car that BMW has probably made what it is today and has been for decades. And hopefully a foretaste of the 100th anniversary of the original 328. Would you like to learn more about the 328 homage? We recommend watching Steve Saxtys excellent book. BMW from Design. Or take a look at the rest of his BMW books – they are all worth themselves.
