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Bavarian Birds Of Passage

The 1936 319/1 appears identical to the 315/1, which was BMW’s first roadster and debuted at the Berlin Motor Show in 1934. When Germany removed the tax penalties on cars with large engines in 1935, BMW introduced the 319/1, which had a 1,911 cc engine that could achieve 55 hp and propel the car to a top speed of 84 mph.

The BMW 328 debuted in the summer of 1936 at the Nürburgring. It won that race and more than 200 others the following year, when a production model went on the market. The car could reach a top speed of 94 mph, and it handled well at that velocity because of its independent front suspension. BMW built 464 examples of the 328 beforeof legendary makes / Resplendent in the cypress shade.” Or something along those lines.

Each spring in the northern Italian town of Cernobbio, just a half-hour drive from Milan, the manicured lawns that stretch from the hotel Villa d’Este to Como’s cool waters become a carpeted green stage for the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The players are classic cars and design prototypes that have been invited to participate. The first such production was held here in 1929–a year after BMW built its first car–and with assistance from the Bavarian automaker, the Concorso was revived in 1999 as a tribute to automotive design from the past, present, and future.

Unlike at most other concours events, the best-preserved specimens do not always receive the blue ribbons. Instead, the judges consider the virtues