Coachbuilt BMWs don't come up for sale often, to put it mildly, but well-heeled bidders will have a chance to purchase a rare BMW styled by Frua this weekend at RM Auctions' Villa Erba sale in Italy. Offered along with top-tier classic supercars, this BMW should make an interesting addition to a multimillion-dollar collection, though we won't know for a few days whether this 1967 BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Fastback by Frua will settle in a BMW collection or an etceterini collection.
But what's this machine all about anyway?
Just one of these were built, with this example selling after the Barcelona auto show appearance.
The BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Fastback by Frua was borne from the Bavarian automaker's purchase of the Glas company, which also produced a small coupe and GT that wore a roundel after BMW's purchase. One other model that Glas produced was the 3000 V8 that was a little more challenging visually than the small sports cars. The purchase of Glas by BMW gave Pietro Frua an opportunity to restyle the 3000 V8, after working on a number of other projects for Glas.
The result is a classic Frua design, one that reminds just about everyone of Maserati cars, namely the Mistral and the Indy. Frua gave it a sleek, low-slung appearance that also manages to use some sharp angles. The front and rear overhangs are on the longer side, but well within the proportions sported by Maseratis of similar design at the time. The BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Fastback features an almost-hidden BMW kidney grille which looks like a bit of an afterthought, with the Italianate styling overwhelming the chassis' German roots and character, requiring one to be relatively close to the car to identify it as a BMW unless one is an expert in rare coachbuilt German coupes.
Powered by a 160-hp 2,982cc V8 engine connected to a four-speed manual transmission, the BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Fastback features an independent front suspension with double wishbones and de Dion rear axle with a Panhard bar, with triple Solex downdraft carburetors sipping the fuel.
This one-off received a retrim of the interior as part of its restoration.
This car was displayed at the Paris and Frankfurt motor shows in 1967, switching from red to a blue metallic finish between shows. A blue metallic color is what the car wore last at the Barcelona auto show, after which it was sold to a private customer in Spain who would go on to keep it for over 20 years. The current consignor has treated the car to a mechanical restoration, which included a repaint and a reupholstery of the interior. The car now shows 64,950 miles on its odometer, believed to be genuine.
RM estimates this BMW-Glas to bring between 380.000 euros and 480.000 euros on auction day, which translates to approximately $419,000 and $529,000. This car hails from the period when coachbuilders and automakers tended to sell their show cars, and this example reportedly led an uneventful life after its show days were over. Its pedigree is a ticket to the world's top concours events, and it helps that the design has aged well. There is a finite number of coachbuilt BMWs from the 1960s and the 1970s out there, and as values for Batmobiles and Maseratis alike pick up, the top estimate may seem like a good deal in a few years.
Visit the auction website to view a full list of lots from this weekend's sale.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
