1939 
BMW 327/28 
Pillarless
Coupe

According to W. Zeichner of the BMW Historisches Archiv in 2002, this car belongs to a BMW 327/328 rolling chassis delivered as “Fahrgestell grundiert” (primed chassis) to coachbuilder Autenrieth in Darmstadt on May 8, 1939. Probably a special body had been ordered from Autenrieth and seems to be one of only a few built special bodied versions of the 327 and 327/328 series made by Autenrieth. In the BMW archives there unfortunately is no authentic documentation on these cars, but there is a German book on the history of Autenrieth where a similar car is mentioned with two pictures on pages 93 and 94. The book is Erste Darmstädter Karosseriewerke Auterieth, authored by Henning Zeiss and printed at Verlag Gunther Press Darmstadt, ISBN: 3-928746-03-0. In similar agreement are Hagen Nyncke of the BWW Group Classic in 2020, and Rainer Simons (documentation below) Documentation and book will accompany this sale.

In 1958 the car was acquired by Gaylord Lineaweaver while serving with the U.S. Army in Germany. Upon return from the Army Service, he shipped the car back to the States. He drove the car from New York all they way out to California. The car has been in California since then; Smith bought the car in 2004 and completely restored it. For the complete history read “Pillarless Sweetheart” by William Edgar, Bimmer Magazine, June 2011.