The late Jim Smith’s lifelong passion for tinkering with and driving fast cars was ignited by his unrepentant past as a dirt-track racer in his youth. It was Jim’s keen eye for fine engineering that first drew him to the BMW marque, but it was his inquisitive mind and seeming ability to fabricate parts out of thin air that led to amassing what might be the largest U.S. collection of operational, restored pre-war and pre-neue klasse BMWs. ​

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The group of fifteen vintage and classic BMWs you see on this site represent over 50 years of hands-on fabrication and restoration, work for which Jim became legendary within the close-knit vintage-BMW network. He transformed car after car from unsightly heaps into beautiful road-worthy drivers. The restoration process for each was a long and arduous one that required the curiosity of an archeologist, the creativity of an artist, and the skills of a surgeon—all of which Jim had in spades

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Well known for his mechanical know-how, his historical knowledge, and his extraordinary parts collection, Jim was an indispensable colleague in the vintage crowd. The significance of Jim’s role in the community was recognized with the most prestigious international citation in the world of vintage BMWs, the Knöchlein BMW Heritage Award from the BMW Clubs International Council. He was the first American to receive the award. 

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This self-taught restoration craftsman embodied BMW Classic’s principle of keeping the flame alive—not only through in his restorations, but also by putting the cars on the street and the track. He restored the cars to drive them—something their next owners should do, too!