BMW 700 LWB SALOON - MAROON - UNFINISHED PROJECT

The date is December 1959.

A shareholder's meeting has been called to vote on a single resolution - to sell BMW to Daimler-Benz.

The banks will not advance BMW any more money even though their latest model, the 700, has 25, 000 advance orders which can not be built because of cash flow problems.

BMW are still making money from motorcycles. When BMW was finally allowed to make cars again after WW2 the car factory was now in East Germany and most of the designs and staff lost. The big saloons (the 50x range or Baroque Angels as they are often called, the standout being the 507 - a car everyone wanted but hardly anyone could afford even when sold at a loss) aimed at the Mercedes products were (mostly) desirable but hopelessly over priced and slow selling. Which is just as well as they all loose money.

The interim halfway house between a motorcycle and a car, the Isetta "bubble car", which BMW bought from Iso in Italy using a 250 cc and then 300 cc motorcycle engine, had kept the company going through 1955 and 1956, but sales were dropping off as the economy improved.

A larger version, but still the same basic shape with the quirky door across the front, but holding 4 proper seats, more properly a 4 wheel car, and with a 600 cc engine (the BMW 600) had not captured the imagination and sold slowly.

BMW's Austrian importer had taken the 600 to the Micholetti styling studio in Italy who produced an attractive 2 door sporty coupe design. BMW's in house team created a 2 door saloon from this and launched them at the August 1959 German Motor Show to great success.

But it was too little and too late. The banks had heard all this before and were no longer prepared to take the risk.

The shareholder's resolution was not voted on thanks to delaying tactics and the meeting adjourned.

Industrialist Herbert Quandt, whose family owned Varta Batteries amongst many other ventures, had shares in BMW and attended the meeting. He was intrigued by the passion shown for the brand and the prospects for the 700 SO he took a 700 to Daimler-Benz who considered it a viable product. And so, the Quandt family purchased over 50% of BMW shares, bankrolled the profitable production of the 700, and set about designing a new class "Neue Klasse"

The rest is history...........



Some people will have read of the recent barn find in South Africa. The ‘find’ (a collection of motorcycles, microcars, and Mercedes - amongst many other things) was assembled by a now deceased South African gentleman who had a plan to rebuild all the cars. Sadly, he died before the project was finished and many of the cars were left half completed or in pieces.

Phoenix Motorcycle Manufacturing have transported the entire collection to our warehouse in the UK and are currently in the process of sorting and cataloguing the items. We are now ready to offer some of the cars and parts for sale. Given that these cars are all packed tightly into our warehouse, please forgive the quality of the photographs – they are designed to give you an impression rather than a detailed understanding of each car.

The collection includes the following cars (which are various states of repair) and a vast numbers of spare parts (engines, gearboxes, body panels, etc):

3 x Messerschmitt KR 200

These were cars were rebuilt about 2 ½ years ago and were used up until about 18 months ago.

4 x BMW Isetta 300 (4 Wheeler)

These were in rebuild up until about 18 months ago. They are all rolling 4 wheeler shells with rebuilt engines, glass and wiring looms installed, seat frame installed, and lights fitted – ready to be trimmed and finished.

1 x BMW 600

This rare car has been repainted and the engine transmission is present. We are not yet sure amongst all the parts how much of the trim has actually survived.

3 x BMW 700

The 700’s are in various states:

i 700 Coupe - complete without an engine - we have the engine.
ii 700LSL Saloon – a maroon car, largely complete for reassembly - glass and trim is present.
iii 700CS Coupe– a green Coupe is a similar state, but not with the same quality of trim.

1 x Trojan Heinkel

The Heinkel Trojan is a complete car without glass. There is also a spare Heinkel engine.

7 x Goggomobil

There is one complete Goggomobil car, the rest are all in parts form.

The list of parts is endless and includes 4 x BMW Isetta engines, 3 or 4 BMW Isetta body shells all in good condition, 3 x BMW Isetta chassis (ranging from a bare chassis to a complete chassis), BMW 700 engines, at least 7 Goggomobil engines, etc, etc, etc. In addition, we have fuel tanks, body panels, trim pieces, linkages, etc. It will take us a long time to catalogue all these parts!

We have already commenced selling some parts of the collection and some cars have already gone. If you are interested, please contact us and come and visit the warehouse.

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