A one-of-a-kind BMW 328 will headline RM’s inaugural Sporting Classics of Monaco auction at the Grimaldi Forum in the Principality on May 1—the same weekend as the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco. Originally manufactured as a standard model in May of 1937, the 328 Mille Miglia Bügelfalte, chassis 85032, was then designated for use by the Experimental Department where it became a competition car that raced in that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Tourist Trophy at Donington.
The next year the car won the 2-liter class in the Mille Miglia and scored several other significant victories before being converted to an open-cockpit “streamliner” and becoming one of three factory entries for the 1940 Mille Miglia, where it finished 6th. It is the only such roadster to be built at the firm’s Munich factory with unique bodywork designed by Wilhelm Kaiser that ultimately served as an informal styling template for a variety of subsequent cars from other manufacturers.
A circuitous post-war ownership path—during which it came into the hands of the designer of Russia’s MiG airplanes—led 85032 back to Munich where it was stored in the BMW Museum and a copy made for display. Now the original car is being put up for sale. For complete information about this car and the Monaco auction, please visit www.rmauctions.com.
