The 1971cc straight 6 M78 engine was based on the engine in the BMW 326 with a claimed maximum speed of 71 mph. The four-speed manual gear box was also the one already seen on the 326.

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In 1941, two years after the introduction of the 321, automobile production at the BMW Eisenach plant, in the German state of Thuringia, was suspended in favour of war production. By then, 3,814 BMW 321s had been built.

During WW2, the tooling for BMW’s manufacturing facility was hidden in nearby mines. But after the allied victory, the entire operations were intended to be crated up and taken by rail to the USSR as part of post war reparations. In the meantime, surviving workers returning from war recommenced production, on a very small scale, using prewar designs.

Albert Seidler, the man in charge of BMW’s Eisenach motor bike production, had a brand new 321 (with red seats) assembled and presented to Marshal Georgy Zhukov, a significant Russian military leader. Impressed by the car, the Russians agreed to halt dismantling the plant if the workers were able to assemble five more cars in one week. The workers achieved this task.

In October 1945, rather than taking the plant itself, Zhukov agreed to have finished cars sent to the Soviet Union as part of the reparations package. Ten cars (and 23 motorcycles) were completed that very month. The plant then passed under the control of a Soviet-directed holding company focused on vehicle production.

Between 1946 and 1950, just under 9,000 examples of the BMW 321 were built, some of which were moved to the Soviet Union as part of the reparations package. Others were exported to the west: in 1949, for example, the BMW 321 was advertised for sale in Switzerland.

Exactly the origins of the 1946 BMW 321 we presently have at Beverly Hills Car Club are therefore unclear. But our model is presented in classic black Schwarz exterior and accented by a bold red-painted double-kidney grille with matching red highlights on the hood louvers, an eye-catching contrast that underscores its pre-war design roots. That fetching scarlet red is featured strikingly throughout the car.

Our BMW 321 is equipped with an inline-four engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. This example features drum brakes, a floor-mounted gear shifter, and a traditional 4-spoke steering wheel. It rides on 14-inch steel wheels wrapped in period-style Atlas whitewall tires, completing its authentic vintage stance.

Exterior details include FER-branded fender-mounted headlamps, a split-V windshield framed in silver trim, and chrome bumpers with vertical overriders.

At the rear, a trunk-mounted spare with a red-painted rim mirrors the car’s distinctive color accents, accompanied by a chrome bumper and compact round tail lamps.

Inside, the cabin offers front bucket seats and a rear bench, along with an open-face glove compartment and rear-hinged suicide doors, hallmarks of the era that enhance both accessibility and character.

Production of the BMW 321 resumed immediately after World War II in 1945 at the Eisenach plant under Soviet control, making 1946 models like this one part of a brief and historically significant transition period before the factory rebranded as EMW (Eisenacher Motorenwerk). These cars reflect a unique intersection of German engineering and post-war industrial history. Although currently not running, this 321 presents a compelling restoration opportunity for collectors seeking a rare and historically important coupe with distinctive styling and heritage.

BMW’s factories were heavily bombed during World War 2. Apart from the Eisenach facility, BMW’s remaining West German facilities were banned from producing motor vehicles or aircraft after the war.

Instead, the company survived by making pots, pans & bicycles. In 1948, BMW in the Western sector of Germany restarted motorcycle production, and resumed car production in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon.

The range of cars was expanded in 1955, through the production of the cheaper Isetta microcar after the rights had been acquired from Italian company Iso.

But slow sales of luxury cars, and declining motorcycle sales as the economy improved, along with small profit margins from microcars, meant BMW was in serious financial trouble. A ‘600’ 4 seat version of the Isetta, with a ‘fridge’ front door and one side door and a 600 cc air cooled horizontal twin motorcycle engine, was a sales flop. This led to a ‘proper car’ styled by Micholetti based on the 600 that consumed all available funds leading to very limited production in 1959.

In December 1959, the company was nearly taken over by rival Daimler-Benz. However, Herbert Quandt and Harald Quandt acquired a controlling interest, largely based on the sales prospect of the BMW 700.

This saved the company as a separate entity.

-Alex Manos, Owner