BMW - The Bavarian Motor Works
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
“BMW—The Bavarian Motor Works” by Michael Frostick. 207 pp. 9 3/8 in. x 7 1/4 in. (Dalton Watson Ltd., 78, Wardour Street, London, W1V 4AN. £7.50)
This is another welcome addition to the well-established Dalton Watson series of pictorial motor history books. BMW is a complex make to cover, for its model-range in recent times has been extensive, it changes frequently, and its antecedents date back, which will be a surprise to many, to 1898, when the Eisenach factory made a 3 1/2-h.p. Decauville under licence and sold it as a Wartburg—not a very happy choice, from my memory of driving a similar Decauville on a Brighton Run!
Frostick has included it all—those very early days of BMW, with a Family Tree forming the end-papers, the emergence of more powerful pre-1914 and post-war Dixies, even the racing models, and then the arrival of the Dixie-version of our Austin Seven. He then gets nicely into the subsequent, successful BMW models, not overlooking the economy period of Isetta bubble-cars and the four-wheeler BMW 600—one wonders whether anyone is still using such petrol-savers, or the subsequent flat-twin coupe 600s, in this country, to this day ?
Those very seductive pre-war BMWs we associate with the Aldingtons are well covered, with rating scenes relating to the 328 in British and Continental races and trials, etc. The book finally comes right up to date, with the modern BMW saloon variants, includes racing cars with BMW motive power, and it has a separate section clarifying the development of the famous. BMW flat-twin and other motorcycles, in action on the circuits or as seen in showrooms.
Not as easy as some histories to compile, this latest from this well-known publishing house will be irresistible to lovers of all kinds of BMW machinery—but no aero engines have got into it.—W.B.
A companion volume to “Automobile Year, the new Motorcycle Year, of like format and high quality, is available from Patrick Stephens Ltd., Bar Hill, Cambridge, for £13.95. An “Edita of Lausanne” publication, its Editor is Christian Lacombe.
* * *
Those who have got out of touch with motorcycling will find “The Observer’s Book of Motorcycles” by Robert M. Croucher a useful little reference book. Well illustrated, it contains tabulated data on the products of more than 50 manufacturers, from 15 different countries. Text and pictures are small but will allow you to identify the motorcycles seen in growing numbers on our roads. It costs 90p, from Frederick Warne, 40, Bedford Square, London, WC 1 B 3HE.
* * *
Patrick Stephens, address above, have issued a new edition of Bob Holiday’s “Norton Story”, a 128-page book packed with information about the history of this great make of British motorcycle, that was so successful in competition events of all kinds. The price is £3.95.
David & Charles have published .a new edition of that erudite hook about the bullnose Morris cars, by Lytton Jarman and Robin Barraclough, originally a Macdonald work, which now takes in the flat-radiator Morris cars and has a handsome new dust jacket to proclaim this. A 277-page 9 1/2 in. x 6 1/4 in. book, the price is ,£6.00.