{{Infobox automobile | image = BMW 321.JPG | caption = BMW 321 2-door saloon | name = BMW 321 | manufacturer = [[BMW|Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW)]]<br /> Sowjetische AG Maschinenbau Awtowelo | production = 1938–1941 (3,814 built)<ref name="Norbye70" /><br />1945–1950 (8,996 built)<ref name="InsideBMWFactories58">{{cite book|last1=Robson|first1=Graham|title=Inside the BMW Factories: Building the Ultimate Driving Machine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzBGh9EFUtMC|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzBGh9EFUtMC&q=East+German+BMW+production&pg=PA54|access-date=2013-02-16|date=2008-11-07|publisher=MBI Publishing|location=Minneapolis, MN US|isbn=978-0-7603-3463-8|at=p 58, EMW—Like BMW? The Same, but Different|chapter=Chapter 5: Losing Eisenach, Building Up Munich|ref=Robson}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | assembly = Germany: [[Eisenach]] (1938–1941)<br>Soviet occupation zone in Germany and East Germany: [[Eisenach]] (1945–1950) | predecessor = [[BMW 320]] | successor = [[BMW New Class]] | class = [[Mid-size car]] | body_style = 2-door [[sedan (car)|saloon]]<br />2-door [[Cabriolet (automobile)|cabriolet]]<ref name="BMWArchive" /> | engine = {{convert|1971|cc|cuin|1|abbr=on}} ''[[BMW M78|M78]]'' [[straight-6|I6]] | layout = [[Automobile layout#Rear-wheel-drive layouts|FR layout]] | transmission = 4-speed manual<ref name="Carfolio321Saloon" /> | length = {{convert|4500|mm|in||abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|1540|mm|in||abbr=on}} | height = {{convert|1500|mm|in||abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|1000|kg|lb||abbr=on}} <br />(measurements approximate)<ref name="BMWArchive" /> | wheelbase = {{convert|2750|mm|in||abbr=on}}<ref name="Carfolio321Saloon">{{cite web|url=http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=101387 |title=1939 BMW 321 Saloon |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=15 February 2013 |archive-date=2011-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114022319/http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=101387 |url-status=live }}</ref> | related = [[BMW 326]]<br />[[BMW 320]]<br />[[BMW 340]] | designer = }} The '''BMW 321''' is a compact six-cylinder [[automobile]] produced by [[BMW|the Bavarian firm]] between 1938 and 1941. After 1945, production of the 321 resumed at the [[Automobilwerk Eisenach|Eisenach]] plant and continued until 1950.
==The launch== The 321 was introduced at the start of 1939 as a successor to the [[BMW 320]].<ref name=Odin>Odin, L.C. ''World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production''. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN91ZG.</ref> It sat on a shortened version of the [[BMW 326]] chassis. The 321 differed from the 320 in its front suspension, its larger tyres, and its styling. While the 320 used front suspension derived from the [[BMW 303]], with a high mounted transverse leaf spring and lower [[control arm]]s, the 321 used the front suspension from the 326, with upper control arms and a low mounted transverse leaf spring.<ref name="Norbye70" />
==Body options== The car was available both as a two-door sedan and as a two-door cabriolet.<ref name="Norbye70" /><ref name="BMWArchive" /> In addition, BMW offered a chassis-only option suitable for a coach-built body.<ref name= Odin />
==Engine and transmission== The 1971 cc [[Straight-six engine|straight 6]] ''[[BMW M78#M78 (320 version)|M78]]'' engine was based on the engine in the [[BMW 326]] with a claimed power output of {{convert|45|PS|kW hp|abbr=on}} and maximum speed of {{convert|115|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.<ref name="BMWArchive">''For saloon'': {{cite web|url=http://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/produktkatalog/model_overview.php?keyBr=299&keySp=101&keyEp=Vorkrieg&slep=0 |title=BMW 321 Limousine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=BMW Group Archive |language=de |trans-title=BMW 321 Limousine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125063056/http://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/produktkatalog/model_overview.php?keyBr=299&keySp=101&keyEp=Vorkrieg&slep=0 |archive-date=2013-01-25 |url-status=dead |access-date=2013-02-15 }}<br />''For cabriolet'': {{cite web|url=http://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/produktkatalog/model_overview.php?keyBr=300&keySp=101&keyEp=Vorkrieg&slep=0 |title=BMW 321 Kabriolett |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=BMW Group Archive |language=de |trans-title=BMW 321 Cabriolet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125062415/http://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/produktkatalog/model_overview.php?keyBr=300&keySp=101&keyEp=Vorkrieg&slep=0 |archive-date=2013-01-25 |url-status=dead |access-date=2013-02-15 }}</ref> The four-speed manual gear box was also the one already seen on the 326.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}
==Commercial== Two years after the introduction of the 321, in 1941, automobile production at the Eisenach plant was suspended in favour of war production.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} By then, 3,814 had been built.<ref name="Norbye70">{{cite book |last=Norbye |first=Jan P. |title=BMW - Bavaria's Driving Machines |year=1984 |publisher=Publications International |location=Skokie, IL USA |isbn=0-517-42464-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bmwbavariasdrivi00norb/page/70 70] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bmwbavariasdrivi00norb/page/70 }}</ref>
==Production after World War II== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19000-3223, BMW-Werk Eisenach, Erste Auslieferung.jpg|thumb|left|In 1948 the first batch of postwar BMW 321s allocated for "civilian use" was photographed leaving the Eisenach plant. The batch was of just fifteen cars.]] [[File:BMW 321 03762.jpg|thumb|left|BMW 321 cabriolet]] In April 1945, Eisenach was occupied by American forces, but by then it had already been [[Potsdam Agreement|agreed between the allies]] that the whole of [[Thuringia]] would fall within the [[Soviet occupation zone in Germany|Soviet occupation zone]]: transfer of the region to the Soviets took place in July 1945. The tooling for BMW's manufacturing facility had been hidden in nearby mines during the war, but the entire operations were intended to be crated up and taken by rail to the [[Soviet Union]] as part of the substantial post war reparations package.<ref name=LM21>{{cite web | url = https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ns-zeit/zweiter-weltkrieg/1945/eisenach-automobilproduktion-sowjets-marschall-schukow-100.html | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20251205073855/https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ns-zeit/zweiter-weltkrieg/1945/eisenach-automobilproduktion-sowjets-marschall-schukow-100.html | archivedate = 5 December 2025 | title = Neustart der Pkw-Produktion: Wie die Eisenacher die Sowjets austricksten | trans-title = Restarting car production: How the Eisenach engineers outsmarted the Soviets | date = 14 January 2021 | work = Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR | language = de | first = Laura | last = Meinfelder}}</ref> In the meantime, surviving workers returning from the war recommenced automobile production, on a very small scale, using prewar designs. Albert Seidler, the man in charge of Eisenach motor bike production, had a brand new 321 (with red seats) assembled and presented it to Marshal [[Georgy Zhukov]]. The Russians were evidently impressed, and agreed to halt dismantling the plant if the workers were able to assemble five more cars in one week. Zhukov issued order no. 93 in October 1945, agreeing to have finished cars sent to the [[Soviet Union]] as part of the reparations package rather than the plant itself.<ref name=LM21/> Ten cars (and 23 motorcycles) were compled that very month. The plant then passed under the control of "Sowjetische AG Maschinenbau Awtowelo", a Soviet directed holding company focused on vehicle production.
Initial production was reserved for the [[Soviet Union]] and government use; production for civilian use and commercial exports commenced in 1948. A further 8,996 BMW 321s are thought to have been built between 1945 and 1950. Most appear to have remained to the east of the [[Iron Curtain]]. Evidence also exists for exports to the west: the car was advertised in Switzerland in 1949 with a retail price of CHF 10,300.<ref name=AlleAutosder50er>{{cite book |last=Gloor |first=Roger |title=Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960 1. Auflage|year=2007 |publisher=Motorbuch Verlag |location=Stuttgart |isbn=978-3-613-02808-1}}</ref> {{Clear}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{BMW pre war}}
[[Category:BMW vehicles|321]] [[Category:Executive cars]] [[Category:Rear-wheel-drive vehicles]] [[Category:1940s cars]] [[Category:Cars introduced in 1938]] [[Category:Compact executive cars]] [[Category:Convertibles]] [[Category:Sedans]] [[Category:Cars discontinued in 1950]]
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