The BMW 321 is a 2-door saloon / 2-door cabriolet from Bmw, built from 1938 to 1941, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 1971 cc M78 I6. Fritz Fiedler drew it.
The background
The BMW 321 is a compact six-cylinder automobile produced by the Bavarian firm between 1938 and 1941. After 1945, production of the 321 resumed at the Eisenach plant and continued until 1950.
The engineering
Power comes from 1971 cc M78 I6. It weighs 1000 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2750 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the BMW 320; its successor was the BMW New Class; assembly was at Eisenach. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Volkswagen Beetle, the Lincoln Continental, the Cadillac Sixty Special — show what else the money bought that year. Its Bmw stablemates include the BMW 116 and the BMW 269.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the BMW 321 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.