BMW Northwest 2020 Magazine - Flipbook - Page 19
Display Models
An early masterpiece of speed and a showpiece in the
impressive BMW Northwest car collection, the 1939 327/28
travels to South Carolina for “GENESIS: BMW From the
Beginning,” at the BMW CCA Foundation
PHO TO: LUCIEN KNU TESON
By Jackie Jouret
BMW Northwest is proud to display highperformance BMWs from every era of the
company’s history in our showroom, and
in 2020 we’ll be sharing the showpiece of
the collection with an even wider audience. When “GENESIS: BMW From the
Beginning” opens at the BMW Car Clubs
of America (CCA) Foundation museum in
Greer, South Carolina in May 2020, the
BMW Northwest 327/28 coupe will be one
of 26 significant prewar and early postwar BMW automobiles and motorcycles
on display.
Built in March 1939, 327/28 #75409 is a
genuine example of BMW’s sporty coupe,
equipped from the factory with the highrevving 2.0-liter six-cylinder engine
sourced from the race-ready 328 roadster.
With 80 horsepower at 5,000 rpm rather
than the 55 horsepower of the standard
327 coupe, the /28 version was also genuinely quick for the time, able to reach a top
speed of 87 mph. It’s also rare: BMW built
just 86 examples of this stylish hardtop,
which sold for 8,100 Reichmarks when
new, the equivalent of $3,253 in 1939.
After its delivery on April 1, 1939, to a
dealership in Berlin run by a gentleman
named Dr. Brenner, the car was sold to an
unknown buyer who was surely both affluent and well-connected, as private cars
were already in short supply at that time.
#75409 managed to survive World War II,
but it wasn’t treated kindly in the decades
that followed. By the time it landed in the
Mainburg, Bavaria, storehouse of ex-BMW
employee and vintage parts dealer Heinz
Landzettel, it was in very poor condition.
Fortunately, it was rescued by a German
collector in 2001 and treated to a frameoff restoration, during which its original
engine was replaced by an identical unit
rebuilt to suit. In 2007, shortly after the
restoration was completed, the car went to
Latvian collector Mark Meerov, and from
there to the RM Techno-Classicar restoration shop in New York.
In 2014, #75409 was offered by RM Auctions in Scottsdale, where it was purchased by BMW Northwest principal
Manfred Scharmach for the dealership
collection. “It’s not the usual sort of car
I’d be chasing, but I was intrigued by the
higher-output motor, and by the hardtop. You see a lot more convertibles than
coupes, but I really like the lines of the
hardtop.”
As for the driving experience, Scharmach says he appreciates the fact that
it’s an old car, and that it is unlike the
more modern vehicles in his collection
of rare BMWs. “The steering is hard, and
the front end is a bit shaky. When you hit
the brakes, you’re not sure which way it’s
going to go. But the car drives quite well,
and it’s very solid. It also has good power
for a car its age.”
The car will be on display through January 2, 2021, at the BMW CCA Foundation,
of course, where viewers will have the
opportunity to examine it up close, and
BMW Northwest Life 2020
17