Inliners International Forums General Discussion Truck Talk 1940 Chevrolet Coupe Build!

Well, it's a long story, so buckle up. Once upon a time, before my grandfather started dumping money in nostalgic Chevy's, he invested in German cars. He restored pre-war BMW's (yes Hitler's cars) as well as a few post war cars too. 328's, 327's, 319's, 2002's, Dixie's, and even a few of the iconic BMW Isetta Bubble Cars. It's quite a collection, here's a website with a few pictures people took of his cars at the Legends of the Autobahn car show in Carmel, Ca. Click Here Since these cars are so rare, he has to look in strange places to find them. His most rare car, that Blue 1939 BMW 327/328 Pillarless Coupe (pictured on the website) was found by a buddy of his in Germany on a flat bed being hauled to the crushers. Neither the truck driver or his buddy knew what the car really was, but they knew it was a BMW and that it was rare. He bought it off the back of the truck and sold it to my grandfather. Turns out there were only 2 of these cars known to be produced by BMW and this car is the only one known to exist today. Good save. Anyhow, enough stories. That frame you see was found underneath a late 1940's 502 or 501 body (the SUV/ people carrier BMW) with a 2002 (car model, not year) 4 cylinder engine in it. It turned out to be a 327/ 328 replacement frame which was most likely used to replace a bent race car frame, or one that was rusted out. It has no numbers on it besides the date produced. He would have taken a 327 body he has hanging in another barn and set it on there, but it wouldn't be worth anything because it would not have been an original, numbers matching car. Then I came along with that famous New Mexico E-bay listing and put the final nail in the coffin of the that BMW project. Now it just sits there, collecting dust and all our piles of Chevy junk. I do feel pretty sore about it, but I didn't really know at the time. Something will happen to that frame and body some time. Maybe not in the near future, but eventually it will get put together. Don't look at me.

Progress from today: More trim work done. Polishing chrome and stainless steel and painting the window sills (if that's what they're called?) we chose a metallic paint which is similar to what the original was. It concerns me a little bit because its different than the tan/ cream color, but it blended nicely in the original car. Also, we bolted on more odds and ends on the frame. It's coming along!



Thanks!

Pete