Not only was the 327 the first BMW designed in Munich, but also a car that later got a red/white badge instead of the blue/white. It even ended up as the Bristol 400 on the other side of the Channel.

From BMW’s point of view, the 327 is important because it was their first proper touring coupe that sported a 55 horsepower straight-six, a light, hand-build body based on an ash frame and also evolved into the 80 horsepower 327/28 a year later to make sure nobody could overtake a modern Bavarian sports car.

But there was more. Following the war, BMW’s Eisenach factory ended up in the Soviet occupation zone and since the assembly line wasn’t destroyed completely, the East-German Eisenacher Motorenwerk continued 327 production. BMW took it to court and in 1952, EMW was forced to stop using the blue/white badge.

Meanwhile in Britain, the Bristol Aeroplane Company got the license from local BMW producer Frazer Nash to built their own cars based on some German engineering, so they took the 327’s body, the 326’s frame and the 328’s 80 horsepower engine to create the Bristol 400…