Friday 20th March 1936

The BMW 326 made its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show, available in 3 versions: a 4-door limousine at a price of 5500 Reichsmark (RM), a 2-door cabriolet at 6550 RM, and a 4-door cabriolet at 7200 RM. The medium-sized saloon was produced by BMW between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly, under Soviet control, after 1945. The 326 was BMW’s first four-door sedan.It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price. Designed by Fritz Fiedler, the 326 featured a box-section frame that could readily be adapted for derivative models.[citation needed] Also innovative were the torsion bar rear suspension, inspired by the dead axle suspension of the Citroën Traction Avant, and the hydraulic braking system, the first to be used on a BMW car. Styled by Peter Schimanowski, the 326 was offered as a four-door sedan and as a two- or four-door cabriolet. The 326 sedan was the first BMW available with four doors. The BMW 320, BMW 321, BMW 327, and BMW 335 were based on the 326. The streamlined form of the body contrasted with previous relatively upright BMWs: drag was presumably reduced further by including a fixed cover over the spare wheel at the back. The 1971 cc straight 6 engine was a version of the 319’s power plant, with the bore increased from 65 mm (2.6 in) to 66 mm (2.6 in), and an unchanged stroke[5] of 96 mm (3.8 in) giving a displacement of 1,971 cc (120.3 cu in). In the 326 application, it was fed by twin 26 mm Solex carburettors to produce a claimed maximum output of 50 PS (37 kW) at 3750 rpm. The top speed is 115 km/h (71 mph). The four-speed gear box was supported by freewheeling on the bottom ratios and synchromesh on the top two.