1940 BMW 328 MM ÒBerlin-RomeÓ Touring Roadster. Photo: Casey Annis
1940 BMW 328 MM “Berlin-Rome” Touring Roadster
The author puts the 328 MM Roadster through its paces at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina test track Photo: Rob Mitchell
From its inception in 1916 to 1927, the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) built a growing business centered around the design and manufacture of water-cooled aircraft engines and motorcycles. However, in 1928, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Camillo Castiglione, struck upon the bold move to increase the footprint of the German company by (1) moving into air-cooled aircraft engines by becoming the only licensed German manufacturer for Pratt & Whitney, and (2) entering the automotive marketplace by acquiring an existing automobile manufacturer.
By leveraging the company to the hilt, Castiglione was able to achieve both goals. On the automotive side, BMW ultimately purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which in addition to building military vehicles and bicycles, also produced the Austin Seven, under license in Germany, as the “Dixi 3/15/PS.” On March 22, 1929, the first BMW 3/15PSDA2 rolled off the Berlin-Johanisthal assembly line, with all of 15 hp at its disposal.
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