ee80efa: Bmw 502 Coupe 1954

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Bmw 502 Coupe 1954

##title##

While the 501 and 502 model numbers were discontinued in 1958, variations of the model, with the same platform and body, were continued until 1963.

In 1954, BMW introduced the

BMW 502 Coupe 1954 Classic
Production at BMW's motor car factory in Eisenach restarted in late 1945 with pre-war BMW models. However, Eisenach was in the Soviet occupation zone, and the cars were not being manufactured by BMW AG, but by the Soviet manufacturing entity Autovelo. Despite not being made by BMW, these cars bore the BMW logo and were being sold as BMWs

BMW 502 Coupe 1954

Meanwhile, BMW AG restarted manufacture on a much smaller scale, starting with pots and pans, and eventually moving up to household hardware and bicycles. Eventually, with permission from the U.S. authorities and funding from the banks under which BMW had been put into receivership, they began manufacturing motorcycles in 1948.

BMW 502 Coupe 1954

To end Autovelo's continued trademark infringement, the Eisenach branch of BMW was dissolved effective 28 September 1949 and was legally severed as at 11 October. Without any legal arguments to continue using BMW's name and logo, Autovelo changed the name to EMW (Eisenacher Motoren Werke) and changed the blue colour in the logo to red.

BMW 502 Coupe 1954

BMW 502 Coupe 1954

Kurt Donath, technical director of BMW and general manager of the Milbertshofen factory, was soliciting manufacturers, including Ford and Simca, to produce their vehicles under licence. In particular, Donath was looking to produce old products under licence, so that he could buy tooling along with the licence.

1955 BMW 502 Coupé Light grey

bmw_502_cabrio_1954-

1956 BMW 502 Baur Cabriolet
While Donath was trying to find a car to build under licence, chief engineer Alfred Böning developed a prototype for a small economy car powered by a motorcycle engine. Called the BMW 331, the prototype used a 600 cc motorcycle engine, a four-speed gearbox, and a live rear axle. The body was designed by Peter Szymanowski and resembled a BMW 327 in miniature.

BMW 502 Coupe 1954,

BMW Zone

The BMW 331 was proposed for production to the management, where it was vetoed by sales director Hanns Grewenig. Grewenig, a banker and former Opel plant manager, believed that BMW's small production capacity was best suited to luxury cars with high profit margins, similar to the cars BMW made just before the war. To this end, he had Böning and his team create the car that would become the 501.