The BMW 328 was a winning car from its very first race in 1936. Ernst Henne drove it to win the 2.0-litre class in the Eifelrennen race at the Nürburgring. It later went on to become a class winner in both Le Mans and the Mille Miglia.

The car shown here was originally based on a used 328, which was then sent to Touring of Milan to design and construct a new body. The original chassis was one of the 461 examples built during 1936 to 1939 and it was lengthened to be fitted with the “Superleggera” body construction. The body was stretched and rolled over a framework of steel tubing providing structure and shape for a super lightweight yet solid vehicle.

At one point the coachwork of this BMW 328 was strangely transferred to a Simca chassis for parts-supply reason. Only after a few decades that the coachwork met with the chassis and the engine, and the car was fully restored by renowned expert Fran Roxas recently. The now-original-condition roadster will be featured in the Pacific Grove Auction on the Monterey Peninsula on August 17.