2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance celebrates 100 years of BMW

BMW dealership in Berlin, 1929. Photos courtesy BMW AG.

Founded on March 7, 1916, airplane manufacturer Bayerische Fleugzeug-Werke AG would go on to become Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), adopting the spinning propeller logo now known the world over in 1917. Regardless of the company’s name or logo, March 1916 is still observed as the birth of the brand, and in recognition of BMW’s centennial, the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will feature two classes devoted to the marque: 100 Years of BMW and BMW Motorcycles.

Building aircraft engines in 1918.

The early history of BMW is a complicated one, as the roots of the company can be traced back to Rapp Motoren Werke, founded in 1913, and Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik, already well established by this time. Rapp initially built engines for Gustav Otto’s airplanes, but in 1916 the two companies merged to become the Bayerische Flugzeuge Werke AG. In 1917, the company would become Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, and in 1918 it would become a public company (AG, in German business lingo). Throughout the First World War, BMW and its predecessors concentrated on the production of aircraft engines, but in 1919 the manufacturing company was forced to cease aircraft engine production and destroy stocks of accumulated parts.

The Eisenach factory, 1929.

Instead, BMW turned its attention to designing engines for automobiles, trucks, motorcycles and even boats, and kept its factory busy producing brake assemblies for Berlin’s Knorr-Bremse AG. The relationship proved beneficial to both parties, and in 1920 Knorr-Bremse AG purchased BMW outright, ensuring the company’s ongoing growth, but at the expense of its former core business of building engines.

Building R 32 motorcycles, 1923.

In 1922, Camillo Castiglioni, a former BMW investor, purchased the rights to the BMW brand, logo, and engine manufacturing business from Knorr-Bremse, somewhat ironically transferring everything back to his Bayerische Fleugzeuge-Werke AG. The “new” BMW AG would set up operations at Oberwiesenfeld airfield in Munich, the location of BMW’s headquarters and main automobile production facility to this day.

BMW R 32 motorcycle. BMW still produces R-series motorcycles.

BMW’s motorcycles predate its cars by five years, and the R 32 of 1923 was not only the automaker’s first motorcycle, it was the first complete production vehicle of any kind from the company. The motorcycle featured a 500-cc air-cooled and horizontally opposed two-cylinder engine, mated to a shaft drive mechanism instead of a chain drive. Even today, BMW’s R-series motorcycles rely on this horizontally opposed engine design (now liquid cooled and displacing 1,200 cc) and shaft drive, proving the merits of a design now into its 10^th decade.

BMW 3/15 Tourer.

BMW’s first foray into four wheels was the 3/15, a licensed copy of the Austin 7 it acquired the rights to build by purchasing Dixi Automobil Werke AG in 1928. The license with Austin expired in 1932, forcing BMW to create an automobile of its own design, and its AM1 debuted just one month after the German company ended ties with Austin. A year later, BMW would introduce the 303, a larger and more luxurious automobile that would debut the kidney-shaped radiator grille, as well as BMW’s inline-six automobile engine.

BMW 303.

World War Two again saw BMW assume the role of aircraft engine manufacturer, while simultaneously producing motorcycles for the German military until 1942. By the end of hostilities, BMW’s Munich plant was little more than rubble, and an Allied edict banned the company from producing vehicles of any kind until 1947, when permission was granted to resume motorcycle production with the R24.

Debut of the BMW 501 at the 1951 Frankfurt Motorshow.

Production of automobiles would resume with the BMW 501, a luxury automobile that entered production in October 1952, but it was the Isetta microcar, built under license from Iso Rivolta, that would ultimately save the company from bankruptcy. In its debut year, 1955, BMW sold 10,000 Isetta models, but by the time production came to an end in 1962, BMW had assembled nearly 162,000 examples.

BMW Isetta models.

Despite the success of the Isetta, these were lean years for BMW. The 1961 introduction of the 1500, a compact car that featured room for four, front disc brakes and a fully independent suspension, would help to change that, establishing the brand as a manufacturer of cars for those with a passion for driving. The 1500 would also debut another oft-emulated design element: The Hofmeister kink, a distinctive sharp bend low on the C-pillar, forever associated with BMW design director Wilhelm Hofmeister.

BMW 1500.

It’s not yet clear which BMW models (in four-wheel and two-wheel variants) will be displayed at Pebble Beach, but it’s reasonable to assume the display will narrate the history of the brand as much as possible. In addition to the two BMW categories designated, other special classes for 2016 will include Delahaye; Chapron Coachwork; 50^th Anniversary of the Ford GT40 at Le Mans; Bizzarrini; and Two-Man Indianapolis Race Cars, 1930-1937.

The 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will take place on Sunday, August 21. For more information, visit PebbleBeachConcours.net.