The 20th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will showcase the legend and legacy of the car that set BMW on its path to being known as the “ultimate driving machine.” Experts, enthusiasts and fans of the Bavarian marque consider the BMW 328 the first sports car worthy of the title. The BMW 328 struck just the right balance with elegant and aerodynamic styling, impeccable road manners plus advanced and inspired engineering. Even BMW’s signature split grill that survives to this day as a BMW styling hallmark remains an important component of the 328 design package. So was real world open road performance.
“The 328 is the car that set BMW on its current course,” said Bill Warner, Founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “The poise, speed and stamina of the 328 and its descendants are the roots of BMW’s reputation and give genuine credibility to BMW’s ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ label.” Competition was at the heart of the 328’s genesis. It debuted on the 14-mile Nürburgring’s 154-turn Nordschleife, winning the sports car class of the 1936 Eifel Race. That first BMW 328 prototype not only won the two-liter class (without supercharging), but also achieved the best time of all sports cars. The BMW 328 went on to win that year’s Belgian Grand Prix des Frontieres in Chimay and the Bucharest Grand Prix.
“The star of the BMW 328 class for our 20th anniversary is the unique 328 Buegelfalte (‘trouser crease,’ for the razor edge fender styling) roadster,” said Warner, “It finished 6th in the 1940 Mille Miglia, and is the only 328 special roadster built at the BMW factory. We’re honored to have it on the field for our 20th anniversary concours. The 2015 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 13-15 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. For more information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org
