Auto Design

The Roadster 328 developed in 1935/36 is one of the legends of automobile history. Although it was developed with modest means, the visually attractive sports car quickly developed into a phenomenon that dominated the two-litre class across Europe. Modified motor sport versions won in the Le mans and the Mille Miglia

courtesy of 90ft’s photostream

 Nevertheless, this car was not only attractive to sports-car drivers. Apart from standard roadsters, the plant was also marketing bare chassis. Customers could then design their own personal vehicle made by a coachbuilder of their choice. Convertible bodies were particularly popular and they turned the BMW 328 into a comfortable touring car. At the time, the streamline shape was regarded as highly innovative.

The teardrop cars were styled with an avant-garde design that demanded entirely new perspectives. While the average person had little affinity with this design, some particularly bold costumer commissioned such a body for their car. The Rosenheim manufacturer  Hans Klepper ordered delivery of a chassis from the Munich BMW dealer Automag on 1st June 1937 and commissioned the coachbuilder Wendler in Reutlingen to build a special body with a streamline shape.

The technical design was created by the German streamline pioneer Baron Reinhard Koenig-Fachsen. He designed the coupe based on the principles developed by Paul Jaray. Helmut Schwandner, Wendler’s in-house designer, looked after the implementation of the design and created the “cheese-grater”‘ grille characteristic of Wendler.

These openings in the body not originally incorporated into the design increased the drag, although the car still achieved an outstanding coefficient at 0.38. The light-weight, aerodynamically contoured  body could be taken to a top speed in excess of 175 km/h