AutoCult BMW S1 (1949) (Germany/GDR)

About the Original

The Dream…

As the Second World War ended and the four Allied powers divided up the German Reich, the former BMW branch plant in Eisenach fell into hands of the Russian occupation. Under Russian influence the plant was called ‘Awtowelo’. In the former production halls were still enough parts of the BMW Type 328, which was produced there before the war, to be found. The vision to produce better vehicles with Russian support than the West Germans – declared to be the enemy – became established in many minds. Especially for road racing it was intended to set a competitive race car on its wheels.

In order to fulfill this task, the technicians in Eisenach set about building a racing car for the 2-liter racing class that deviated from previous designs. This was already recognizable by the car body, which was designed completely according to aerodynamic aspects. This meant that the car had no – as it was customary at that time – free-standing wheels. The wheels were located within/ underneath the body. Taking into account a smaller than usual steering angle, the car became much wider than its competitors. The smoothly designed aluminum body was fitted above the filigree tubular frame without any protruding parts. Responsible for the design and its implementation was the crew around the graduated engineer Georg Hufnagel. The race car won two races and was then converted into a road-legal two-seater – presented at an exhibition in Leipzig in 1950.