BimmerRod - 1949 BMW 321 sedan

[Flipper_1938]

[cl

I think Chip Foose did a rendering of one a few years ago,
probably in Custom Rod or Streetrod Builder, IIRC.

It was Yellow, chopped, and fenderless.

Might have been a Mercedes, but looked very similar.

I've got a vouple of old Mercedes bodies to rod. ...one even has a sliding cloth sunroof.

I was told by somebody that Foose had built a fenderless Mercedes...I called his shop asking about it and his wife said no, not his shop. I didn't think to ask if he had drawn a picture of one.

Do you happen to have a copy of the magazine with the drawings?

 

[Shea Laking]

I'm a BMW nut aand I'm working for a BMW dealership . . so it was obvious what I had to do . . . build a Bimmer-Rod!!

First I needed a pre-war BMW . . . well . . that's a problem . . even the really really bad ones cost at least a arm or maybe a leg . . . and honestly . . building a hot rod with missing arms or legs doesn't really sound like fun . .
After a bit of surfing the internet I found a '49 BMW 321 in Estonia . . .hmm . . a '49 is not a "true" pre-war car . . but the 320/321 was built since 1938 . . so a pre-war model none the less . . the ad said: all body parts, lots of rust, dissesembled . . . it was not cheap . . .

I'm nuts . . but not an idiot . . sending quite a amount of money to a guy in Estonia without having seen the car or knowing if it even exists . . . that's only something a idiot would do . . .
After a short e-mail where he told me, that he could organize the transport to southern Germany . . my money was on its way to Estonia . . oh may!

On Wednesday I was finally heading for Germany to pick up my new toy . .

isn't that a beauty!! [cl

That looks like a cross between a Fiat Topolino and a Ford Anglia (Popular, if you prefer).

It looks WAY too nice without it's fenders to ever put 'em back on.

Kudos to you for having the vision to try this. I'll be watching, for sure!!!

Regards,
Shea

 

[35Mastr]

This is going to be a cool build. Like seeing something different.

 

[wendle]

Congratulations on having the guts to make the purchase!

I once got an e-mail from this guy in Nigeria offering me a BMW....

 

[Boogieman]

yeah it already has suicide-doors [cl . . .

sorry I'm not gonna put big alloys on there . . it's gonna keep it's original steel wheels on the front and depends what rear end I get, it will get wider steel wheels in the back . . . not a fan of those Rods with huge modern wheels . .

The engine puts out 286hp . . . not a lot, but plenty to start with I think . . . it's capable of doing the 1/4 mile in 14 seconds in the big 2t 540i . . so in this it should be quite nippy in here

Today I was lazy and didn't do much . . took a lot of crap, rust and dirt out of the car and removed a few brackets and other useless parts from the frame . . I'm not sure yet if I want to get it sandblasted . . it would be a clean starting point . . but I like the rusty look . . hmm . . well . . no rush, lots of time to decide

looks like the steering is going to be a major issue with the big engine . . . [S . .

 

[70_boosted]

to each his own on the wheels, but it will look sick with the original steelies? but it def would be pretty eye candy with the modern alloys. nice start with the suicides. whats your idea as far as color choice? what about modern interior, bmw seats, etc?

 

[Boogieman]

my plan is to stay away from "modern" parts . . except the engine and fresh steel of course . . interior is going to be pretty minimal and I haven't made up my mind about the color yet . .

but after seeing this . . flat primer olive-green has suddenly become a option . . .

 

[70_boosted]

good deal...good luck with the build, def be different

 

[Gregster]

that's not your average model a , It will draw a croud everywhere you go . Be ready to answer the question " What kind of car is that ? " . cool car !

 

[59imp]

wicked cool......

 

[PhilJohnson]

Sweet car. Your BMW has to be up there with the top ten wierd odd-ball Hot Rod builds.

 

[desertRAT702]

that is super sick! love the drive train set up. just get the Dinan supercharger! lol i agree on the wheels. as sick as 03up M3 wheels would be, i think sum sort of "original" wheels should be used. as for color tho, what about gunmetal from the M3's? another thing, a customer came in with an RSX with fresh'ish paint. it was army drab green...with metal flake! it was really neat how it was done. next time he comes in im guna get pix.

but whatever u do to it, it will be amazing!

 

[Reverend D]

I'm liking what your thinking wheel wise. Be nice to see some widened steelies on the back. That color fits the car and period pretty good to. Its gonna be cool.

Regards,

Rev. D.

 

[Flipper_1938]

Any new pics?

 

[falconvan]

This is cool, man. That what it's all about; pull up at the car show and you have the only one there. [P

 

[39chev]

Ya will probably be the only old bmw you dont see anything like that around anymore deffinetly sweet I like it.

 

[Boogieman]

I was quite busy the last few weeks . . so not much progress . . . (sorry for the useless pictures . .)

Today I cut out the firewall

unfortunatly the Battery box had to go as well . . really a shame . . it was in like-new-condition

luckly rust isn't a issue . . except on the body and frame

can you believe that? .. you can still order that emblem new from any BMW dealer . . crazy . . . I had to have one

I hope that I can get some new metal in this weekend [

 

[Gregster]

It's always important to have the emblem on the front of a bmw.

 

[Tripper]

unfortunatly the Battery box had to go as well . . really a shame . . it was in like-new-condition

You should put that up on daBay or CL!!!

BoB

 

[Tripper]

A lil treatment!