A single gussied-up 321 may have saved BMW's Eisenach factory: presented to Soviet Marshal Zhukov after WWII, it reportedly helped convince him not to have the plant dismantled for reparations.
Lead trim: 321 (M78 2.0 I6, 45 PS)
BMW 321321 · 1938–1950
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a BMW 321 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactA single gussied-up 321 may have saved BMW's Eisenach factory: presented to Soviet Marshal Zhukov after WWII, it reportedly helped convince him not to have the plant dismantled for reparations.
The BMW 321 is a compact six-cylinder automobile produced by BMW between 1938 and 1941 (3,814 built), with production resuming at the Eisenach plant after 1945 and continuing until 1950 (8,996 built). Introduced at the start of 1939 as the successor to the 320, it sat on a shortened version of the 326 chassis and differed from the 320 in its front suspension (the 326's upper control arms and low-mounted transverse leaf spring, where the 320 used the 303-derived high-mounted transverse leaf spring and lower control arms), larger tyres and styling. It was offered as a two-door sedan and a two-door cabriolet, plus a chassis-only option for a coach-built body, with the 1,971 cc straight-six M78 based on the 326's, a claimed 45 PS (33 kW; 44 hp) and a maximum speed of 115 km/h (71 mph), and a four-speed manual gearbox. In 1941 automobile production at Eisenach was suspended in favour of war production; in 1945 surviving workers began assembling cars on a very small scale, Albert Seidler presented a new 321 to Marshal Georgy Zhukov, and Zhukov's order no. 93 of October 1945 had finished cars sent to the Soviet Union as reparations rather than the plant itself; the first postwar batch allocated for "civilian use", photographed leaving the plant in 1948, was just fifteen cars. Wheelbase 2,750 mm (108 in), length 4,500 mm (180 in), width 1,540 mm (61 in), height 1,500 mm (59 in).
Collectors Spotted in the BMW 321 Lineage
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Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 321 (M78 2.0 I6, 45 PS) | 1938–1950 | 2.0 L Inline-6 | 44 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
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