3 June 2019

The place is a workshop, showroom and meeting point all in one. And the name is cool and a perfect fit: Driven34. Can Eyilik – architect and BMW enthusiast from Istanbul – is a true gearhead. His collection includes three absolute gems from BMW M, but his exceptional passion and style are expressed above all in the presentation. For us, this is the “Garage of the Month” – even if the name for this mancave seems rather too mundane. 

Troy Corser, two-times Superbike World Champion, added a further nuance to his legendary status when he rolled onto the track astride an 89-year-old supercharged BMW R57. The next appearance for this pair is the Punk’s Peak sprint race at the launch of the monumental Wheels & Waves Festival in Biarritz from 12 to 16 June. This event will see BMW Classic presenting a further showpiece for the first time: a newly restored BMW 2000 estate, one-time special produced as a motor-sport service vehicle. Now it has gained a new lease of life including the opportunity to take Troy Corser’s Jetsurf to the beach.

It’s elegant swept-back lines gave it the nickname “Baroque Angel”. But the apparently nostalgic facade concealed some seriously sophisticated engineering. Six years after the end of the war, the company took a bold step and made a new start as an automotive manufacturer. Since it had lost the production facilities in Eisenach, the BMW 501 was the first model to be produced in Munich. The saloons were initially powered by a six-cylinder engine and from 1954 by a lightweight all-alloy eight-cylinder engine. They radiated an aura of prestige and soon rose to be enrolled in the service of the state. As official cars for the Bavarian police, they were not only in evidence on the streets, they also starred in the legendary German TV police squad-car drama series “Funkstreife Isar 12” (from 1961): Tough times for villains, good karma for righteous citizens. 

The commitment to customers engaging in privateer motor sport has a long tradition at BMW. Since the 1990s, BMW 3 Series automobiles of the third and subsequently also fourth generation enjoyed particularly successful careers on race tracks. A large range of replacement parts is still available today from BMW Group Classic for racing cars such as the BMW 318i, which competed in the Super Touring Car Cup. The BMW Z4 VLN is no exception. Although the BMW Z4 is not yet officially regarded as a classic car, BMW Group Classic is already supplying replacement parts for the Nürburgring racer.