11 November 2019

Will Bill Arnold’s BMW 325is make it from the scrap heap to the “24 Hours of Lemons”? Will Nicholas Upton’s unique Mini Cooper S in the estate version be admitted to the Monterey Car Show? And how is the 30-year-old Rolls-Royce Silver Spur getting on as the everyday runabout of automobile eccentric Alan Galbraith? This week the new series of clips entitled “Work in Progress” with Jason Camissa turns into the straight. The final episodes in the three adventurous spannerman projects will be featured on the YouTube channel of BMW Group Classic.

When all the good people of Munich have long since settled down for the evening but visitors are still streaming into the BMW Museum – this must surely be the “Night of the White Gloves” getting under way. On Friday 22 November, the time will have come once again. From 19.00 onwards, classic-car fans will be able to have a close encounter with exhibits from more than 100 years of company history. This time the focus of the event will be the special exhibition “Heading for Freedom in the BMW Isetta”. In the 30th anniversary year of the opening of the Berlin Wall, the exhibition explores how an ingenious conversion transformed the Isetta “cuddle coach” – as the bubble car was known – into an intrepid escape vehicle. An augmented reality presentation allows visitors to experience the story of a successful escape from East Berlin to the West in an even more vivid experience.

The presentation of the BMW 1500 in 1961 is undoubtedly the most important turning point in the post-war history of the company. It’s scarcely conceivable from today’s perspective, but up to then the Munich automaker had only served two extremely disparate segments: small cars (BMW 700) and luxury automobiles (BMW 502). This precursor of the “New Class” emerged into the very substantial gap between the two ends of the market. The car was sporty and affordable, it had been designed right from scratch and the vehicle was engineered for the future. A feat paving the way for a triumph. The Classic#heart blog highlights the connection between the BMW 1500 and the mythical phoenix bird.

There had been hopes that something really special might be dreamed up in Italy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the MINI. Just how special, has now been revealed at Europe’s biggest comic exhibition in Lucca. A new white MINI was completely redesigned with bold lines in black ink penned by celebrated artist Giuseppe Palumbo, who is part of the cult scene. Palumbo’s famous cartoon figure “Diabolik” is depicted on the move in exciting race situations. A short clip shows the artist at work.