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Made to order: for the
Mille Miglia, BMW commissions a streamlined body made of a new, ultra-light aluminum/magnesium
alloy.
Series production begins for the 801 aircraft engine. Around
30,000 are built by 1945. BMW wins the Italian Mille Miglia
again by a generous margin with the 'aerodynamic coupé' based
on the 328. |
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Production of the R 57 Wehrmacht motorcycle begins: the bolt-on frame allows easy dismantling of the engine.
BMW motorcycle
production is gradually transferred to Eisenach because of the
war and car production is halted. 81,228 BMWs have been
manufactured since 1929. |
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Resourceful: gasoline scarcity during the war prompts many BMW owners to mount wood-gas generators on the rear of their
cars. |
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BMW's radial engine (shown here, the 109-003) is one of the first mass-production jet engines.
The 109-003 goes
into production the following year as one of the world's
first jet engines. |
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Site of reconstruction: BMW begins plans to rebuild its Munich production plant.
BMW tests
rockets for the war effort in Basdorf and Zühlsdorf. |
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The first BMW bicycle with a lightweight aluminum frame.
At the end of
the Second World War, BMW lies in ruins. The works in
Eisenach and Dürrerhof, Basdorf and Zühlsdorf are lost. The
factory in Munich is dismantled. The victorious Allies
impose a three-year ban on production because of the
company's involvement in constructing aircraft engines and
rockets. |
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A sign of the times: saucepans made from the cylinders of airplane engines. |
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| Dismantled BMW: machinery crated and destined for 17 countries, much of which never reaches its destination. |
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Geneva Motor Show: since BMW is neither able, nor allowed, to manufacture after the war, British car companies
Arlington-Fraser-Nash and Bristol develop licensed models based on earlier BMWs.
The
one-cylinder BMW R 24 motorcycle from Munich is the first
post-War product. |
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BMW is back again: presenting its first motorcycle since 1941 in New York. |
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