BMW Coupé Tradition

Press Release

The New 6 Series and its Prominent Predecessors

By tradition, BMW has always built cars characterised by sporting performance, power and elegance - and these attributes apply above all to BMW coupés. So it is no surprise that the new 6 Series Coupé looks back at a heritage of many prominent predecessors all proudly bearing the white-and-blue marque. Cars with a coupé body are almost as old as the automobile itself. But whilst coupés are regarded today as particularly refined, elegant, dynamic, and expensive, they used to be the inexpensive alternative to the usual saloons. So one might say that the coupé, in the old days, was the "smaller model" reduced to two seats and a small luggage compartment. The coupé - soon becoming the favourite of the upper class.
But this changed towards the end of the Twenties, when more and more wealthy individuals realised that the more compact and therefore lighter coupés were able to show the bigger and heavier saloons their tail lights on the road thanks to their higher speed. And then it did not take long for those fast and nimble sports coupés to adjust to the special demands of such upper class customers. Now more and more German car makers started to offer coupes in the market in response to customer demand. The first "real" BMW coupé was and remained exclusive.
It was precisely with this in mind that BMW launched its first "real" coupé in 1931, a special variant of the BMW 3/15 DA 4. Still based on a licence from Austin for the Austin Seven, the coupe was a "hefty" 100 .- reichsmarks more than its saloon counterpart, emanating a touch of exclusivity right from the start for this reason alone. And as a result just 210 customers opted for this rather unspectacular model on its skinny wire wheels built in a short production period from 1931-1932. At last, in 1938, the BMW 327 coupé entered the market as the company's first large coupe. Still acknowledged today as one of the most beautiful cars of all times, this six-cylinder is the oldest "direct" predecessor to the new 6 Series: It is a car full of elegance, power and dynamic performance - attributes extending all the way to the latest coupé in the history of the Company. The BMW 327/328 - an absolute winner.
Baron Huschke von Hanstein, the gentleman racing driver of the '30s, was one of 86 lucky purchasers able to call the 327/328 coupé his own. And this scarcity of the 327 coupé is no surprise, the price of more than 8,000.- reichsmarks for this 80 bhp, 140 km/h sports model making it more than twice as expensive as an exclusive grand tourer. The only other BMW coupé even more exclusive at the time was the BMW 328 Coupe Touring built only once. And that one car went a long way, maximum output of 135 bhp driving the 800-kg BMW 328 coupé to a class victory in Le Mans and in 1941 even to a triumphant overall win in the Mille Miglia.