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At the end of the years 50 BMW had a difficult time, the big automobiles as 501, 502, 503 and 507 were hard to sell, very expensive
and technically out of date. The motorcycles, the 700 and Isetta generated some income and a bankrupt was very near.
The development of the "Neue Klasse" was in progress and presented at the Frankfurt exhibition in 1961 ( 1500 and 1600 models ).
At the same exhibition a new car was presented : The 3200 CS, successor of the 503, also named BMW Bertone.
The coupe was styled by Bertone and this Italian firm produced also the bodies for this coupe, very stylish in that time but the
fabrication quality was very poor. The appearance was modern and the same applies for the disc brakes in front and the four electric
windows.
The bodies were transported to Munich and assembled with chassis and engine. These components however were in fact outdated,
a very heavy chassis, torsion bar suspension, fixed rear axle, light alloy V8 engine ( 3.2 liter, 160 PS). The topspeed was OK :
200 km/h but due to the high weight ( 1600 kg ) acceleration was slow.
In the period of 1962 to 1965 only 603 cars were built ( 602 coupes and one cabrio for the owner of BMW ). Not really a commercial
succes, no automatic gearbox, power steering, airconditioning aso. Also in the american market there was hardly interest for this
top model BMW.
In Germany the car was sold at about 30.000 DM, seven VW beetles could be bought for this amount of money !
In many publications about classic BMW's the car is simply forgotten.
Information about my car
I have allways been interested in the early history of BMW as manufacturer of premium cars so I knew that such a commercial
misser had been introduced. I discovered my car in 2003, but the car was completely dismanteld in 1986 and never built together
again. The engine was ruined and many parts were missing.
With help of the German V 8 club and BMW Netherlands I could finish the car in 2007, since than I have driven 10.000 km, mainly
during club events in the Netherlands and Germany. Most of the work has been done by myself ( more than 2500 hours ).
A special handycap is that no workshop manual exists, a detailled components book was of great help.
My Bertone belongs to the second serie having more luxurious interior ( all leather ) and some technical
improvements. The reliability is reasonable but mostly I take tools and parts with me ( just in case ! ).
Driving the car is a pleasure, the noise of the engine and wind around the body are tiring on longer trips.
The car is highly original, the only important modification is electric power steering, I developped this system especially for my car
with the help of a dutch specialist. Due to my age and the condition of parts of my body, parking was nearly impossible due to very
heavy steering.
Author: Jan Bakker.
Photo: author. (click on each photo to zoom-out)
Do you want to know more ?
1962 BMW 3200 CS Bertone detailed specifications,
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