juddman

Hey there - Sorry, it's not for sale. My dad remembers riding in the car as a young child and until recently was unaware of anything related to it still in existence. His grandfather was an interesting guy - he owned a custom hardware business and outfitted the homes of the captains of industry in the early 20th century. I've seen his handiwork in the homes of the Vanderbilts and others. .

Recently my uncle passed away and among his things I found an item that might be of interest to fans of the V12 Lincoln. My great grandfather bought one new for my great grandmother in 1937 and my uncle still had the Service Policy for the car. My dad actually remembers riding in the car as a young child.

A few more recent photos - It's starting to look like a car, but there is much left to be done.

It lioks like a decent example certainly, but these can hide rust surprisingly well. A thorough PPI would be well advised. The car wears a BMWVCCCA badge, so its' history should be accessible via Goetz Pfafflin. It's not impossible that they are original, but the rear bumper & license plate arrangement seem odd to me and the fenders may be from an earlier car. Most 39's have scalloped fenders, but nothing is absolute on these. Where are the gauges and front bumperettes? Overall it looks like this could be a solid car. If not rusty and if the wood is ok, it could be quite a fun ride. If it needs structural work, please understand that it's not at all a trivial undertaking.

More progress on the old lady. New metal being prepared for the passenger side cowl. Fitting around the bottom of the left side cowl:

I appreciate your thoughts and experience very much. Time and funds are being spent on the body right now because without that being sound, there's little point to the rest of it. The body and wood are only being repaired to the point of being sound and presentable, not to anything approaching aesthetic perfection. That would involve significantly more work. There are old repairs on both the body and frame that are visible but are being left alone because they're part of the car's history and they remain sound. With that said, I have inherited my dad's view of mechanical things. He was a mechanical engineer for Grumman Aerospace for 35 years and his cars were rarely beautiful specimens. They often achieved high mileages and ran well despite being driven hard and fast for hundreds of thousands of miles, however. For a long time I too have driven ugly cars that work really well. He often said that at 100 mph in a snow storm at night, only certain things matter. I am far more interested in having the mechanical aspect of the car robust than I am in shiny paint but my finances are limited to tackling one task at a time and putting a nicely rebuilt drivetrain into a car with a rusty frame and rotted wood doesn't make sense to me. It'll be a strong car. My goal is to get as close to building a 90 mph car as I can. I also plan on using it as an occasional commuter and (hopefully) managing a speeding ticket with it. It'll just take time. I'm supporting a family on one income and that ain't cheap 75 miles east of Manhattan.

I'm sure there will be some waiting for bits and pieces, but most mechanical bits don't seem too tough to get. I do have the advantage of knowing the last guy to drive the car and he said that aside from the engine being worn, the rest of the drivetrain was smooth and quiet. I'm not doing a restoration as much as a renovation. If there are bits that can be cleaned up and used as they are, that's what I'll do. For example, the gauges appear to have some age on them but they're functional. They're getting cleaned, lubricated as needed, and they're going in as they are. The steeting wheel looks really worn but is uncracked, so it's not being touched. I already have some spares and there's certainly enough to keep me busy in the event that I'm waiting on some piece of unobtanium.

Not an awful lot at the moment, though I do have a new wiring harness for the car. The plan is to rebuild the drivetrain & other mechanical bits starting from the hubs and working inward and upwards from there. Once the car is home - later this year - I plan on getting going on some of those things. Time has been at a premium lately, however. I work at a startup tech company, I have two young children, and my in-laws have needed assistance lately. It'll grt there as time and finances permit!

Squint and perhaps use your imagination a little and it starts to look like a car...just maybe.

Just a quick note: Doug has updated and expanded his website to include other projects he's been working on. The link is below. If anyone needs the services of a skilled and trustworthy fabricator, I recommend Doug without reservation. He is exceptionally bright, thorough, and straightforward. https://sites.google.com/site/cyganrestorationfabrication/

There are a couple here and it does indeed wear the later fenders: http://forums.aaca.org/f190/1940-bmw-327-sportcabriolet-386941.html I could be wrong, but I think I may have seen photos of this car elsewhere on the internet recently as well (PreWarCar.com?)

Hi Carlito - Good to know I'm not the only one around here with a project 327! There are a few knowledgeable souls, however. RU22 from Poland seems to be a wealth of information on these cars. Is yours running? How's the car with regard to rust & structural wood? These cars do seem to be able to hide a multitude of sins pretty well. If I can be of any assistance, please let me know. A good friend of mine in New Hampshire who also has a 327 and is quite knowledgeable fabricates a number of 327 specific parts (structural wood, wiring harness, rubber bits, etc...) that are otherwise pretty difficult to find. His website is here: http://home.earthlink.net/~dougcygan/index.html Cheers! Chris

Ian - What a lovely 328! Thank you for posting the photos. As RU22 says, the 327 is about 600-lb heavier than the 328 so there definitely is a weight penalty performance wise, but it doesn't matter to me. RU22's 315/1 does really look like a beautiful car. Hey, it looks like I'm not alone in having a project 327 here - check the white one from Ukraine a few threads up.

OK, but there were a few details such as the dashboard configuration with the pentagonal radio opening and the cigar lighter and 326 type ashtray on the far right side that indicate the fact that this is a relatively early production model like my own.

Indeed! There's a '41 coupe with the 335 engine in MA and my own 327 has the early VW headlight conversion, as does the one that was immediately ahead of mine on the assembly line. During that car's restoration I noticed many detail similarities between my own car and that one, so I emailed the shop doing the work and it turned out that the two cars have consecutive chassis numbers. That one is 73272 and mine is 73273. http://www.jellybeanhotrods.com/38bmw.html http://www.jellybeanhotrods.com/38bmwUnveil.html

That looks like nice example! I find the treatment of the grille interesting; it's not original at all, but I find it attractive. Being that my car is missing its original grille it gives me something to consider. Thank you for posting it. - CJ

Thanks very much for the encouragement and kind words. It'll be a while yet, but I'm looking forward to having the car home so I can have some fun out in the garage.

Here's a quick post-turkey day update on the wrinkled and rusted pile of metal that approximates an ancient BMW. Close-up of rear wheel well rust - note the old brazed repair Fabrication of the left rear quarter panel: Thanks to Doug, it's coming along well and will actually move under its own power again. She'll never be a concours queen, but will certainly be good enough for local cruise nights and commuting to work in nice weather, I think.

Hey there - sorry for being so slow in the uptake. I've been busy lately and shall be starting a new job soon, so not much has gone on lately. Any information you'd care to share would be deeply appreciated. My email address is christopher-dot-m-dot-judd at gmail dot com. I'll probably import an engine from Europe as they're pretty thin on the ground here. I know they have a stouter crank and I plan on running slightly higher compression, but I'll be worrying about that more when the car is home. Cheers! CJ

What a lovely little beastie! I've never seen one on this side of the pond though I know there are a few. I really love the little teardrop trailer they made as well!

Wanderer perhaps? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wanderer-w25k.jpg

Some more progress on the old beastie. This time on the left front, fixing some ancient collision damage and rust. Patch aft of the front wheel: Fitting of side panels, repairing wrinkled bits: I've decided to leave the wrinkles in the firewall simply because I don't want to completely erase the history of the car. I know perfectly well that it'll hurt the value and many will not understand the decision but tough nuts. It's my car, it's been in my family for 50 years, and at 100 mph at night in a snowstorm, it doesn't matter much. This old lady's going to be a driver.

I just saw this on RU22's photo page and thought it important to share: It is apparently a badge belonging to a slave laborer who worked at BMW during WW2. Knowing something is one thing, seeing real tangible evidence of it is entirely another, and this brought me up a bit short. I don't want to throw cold water on anything, but I think it's relevant. RU22, I hope you don't mind my posting this. If you do, I'll pull it.

Hi Folks - Another quick update: This time Doug has fabricated and is fitting some metal on the left side of the cowl. Next up will be the panel immediately forward of this one, which is apparently quite a complex bit to get right. His comments follow: "The panel just forward of the new cowl piece is junk and so I've started making a new replacement. It has a pretty complex reverse saddle curve toward the front and It's highly visible so it's taking a bit of time to make sure it comes out correct. I made a hammer form to get the basic shape and then made a set of steel dies for the Pullmax to put in the final shape, albeit it's just one profile out of several that I need to make for this panel. And, because of the complexity it has to be made out of several pieces, which will then be welded together. " For your amusement, the color combo I'm considering looks something like this, which I believe to be fairly close to original for my own car: Cheers! CJ

I don't think so. The only rot was on the right front below the A-pillar. The collision repairs on the left front from the 1950's or perhaps earlier remain sound, so I think she;s structurally sound. Cheers!