Rob Schultz — 7/31/2008 10:20 pm

Europeans are often regarded by Americans as a smug group, especially when it comes to high culture.

Never is that stereotype more applicable than with their passion for automobiles -- European-built automobiles, in particular.

So you can imagine how insulted those car buffs on the other side of the pond felt when they learned that a rare 1931 BMW IHLE 600 Sports Roadster was found -- and that an American bought it.

Tom Griffith, a car collector from Verona, was surfing online about a year ago when he stumbled across an advertisement on a European Web site for the car, which was in the possession of some dealers near Amsterdam.

He wasted no time in purchasing the auto, which had just 4,688 miles on its odometer, for an amount he declined to disclose. And Griffith soon learned how much of a steal he had made.

"Within 48 hours I had 72 e-mails from people in Europe inquiring about it," Griffith said.

Nobody was more upset than officials from BMW's World Headquarters in Munich.

"They had (one '31 IHLE 600 Sports Roadster) in their museum and they were upset that this other car, unbeknownst to them, was in existence," said Griffith, who believes there are just five other '31 BMW IHLE 600 Sports Roadsters left in the world -- all in Europe. "They were also upset that an American bought it, and they would never see it. They were not happy. They were trying to get me to sell it to them before I even had it."

That won't happen yet. At least not until after Griffith has some serious fun showing off the car, which has been restored to nearly new condition in a process that consumed nearly a year. One of its appearances will be Sunday, Aug. 3, at the 13th annual Vintage Celebration at Botham Vineyards near Barneveld. The event is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and under.

The car, which measures a mere 10 feet long and looks like it could run in the Soapbox Derby, offers proof that bigger doesn't always mean better. "I'm almost too tall to drive it, and I'm 5-foot-8," said Griffith, who has been collecting cars for more than 20 years and has been an annual participant in the Vintage Celebration.

Under the hood is the first-ever BMW car engine -- a four-cylinder, 15-horsepower, 743-liter piece of heaven that is as basic as engines can get. The fan has just two blades and the fan belt is leather. There is no fuel pump; instead, there is a gravity feed that drips gas to the carburetor.

It also has a crank start, a 2-gallon gas tank, uses 3 quarts of oil and tops out at about 50 mph. "It's like driving a go-cart," said Griffith, who added he has invested more than $100,000 in the car. "But the historical significance of this car is what makes it so special."

The car was damaged during World War II when the warehouse in which it was stored was bombed by the Allies. It stayed there for 50 years until it was rebuilt sometime during the 1990s, according to Griffith. Then, after the man who restored the car died, his granddaughter sold the car to the dealers in Amsterdam.

It cost Griffith more than $15,000 to have it delivered. He hired international brokers in the Netherlands and United States to guarantee its safe arrival and paid to have a specially made shipping crate built.

"You can't drive a truck with a trailer to O'Hare (airport) and say, 'There's my box. Can I have it please?' It doesn't work that way," said Griffith.

Griffith has proof that the car is authentic because its vehicle identification number is engraved on the engine block. He sent the VIN to BMW, which sent him a picture of a handwritten entry in its logs the day the car was made.

As it turns out, BMW officials have been good to Griffith by providing all of the authentic parts that were needed to restore the car. BMW provided Griffith with an authentic fan blade, leather fan belt and side-view mirror, as well as authentic leather hood straps, spark plugs, wiper blades and BMW insignia logos.

"They said, 'If you are going to restore it, we want it restored correctly. This is our car.' And they really look at it that way," Griffith said. "They say, 'You may own it, but it's our car.' So they helped me enormously get this thing as perfect as you can get it."

Griffith commissioned Keith Van Egdom of Dodgeville to handle a complete frame-off restoration, and the car was returned to him recently, in mint condition.

There is no doubt that many Europeans are salivating over owning the car soon.

Just not too soon.

As the vintage BMW roadster sat side by side in a garage with an almost-as-rare 1930 Cord Cabriolet that Griffith also owns, he was asked if he has any doubts whether he'll get all his money back that he has invested in the BMW.

Griffith smiled and said, "None at all."

 

BMW is one of the few car manufacturers that I can say looks great and well proportioned all the way back to their very early models. I usually don't digg most stuff from the first half of the 1900's but there are a few.

 

great read! thanks for posting it caveney

 

... a 743-Liter four cylinder?!

You would think they could have at least gotten 20hp out of that