BMW 326

The 326 was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show in February 1936,^[5] the 326 was offered for sale from May of that year.^{[citation needed]} The 326 was a success. By the time production was suspended in 1941, the Eisenach plant had produced 15,949 of them.^[7]

East Germany

In 1945, Eisenach was occupied by US forces. However, the wartime allies had already agreed that Thuringia would fall within the Soviet occupation zone. The plant that BMW had originally acquired in 1929 was not fully destroyed, and it was possible for returning survivors to assemble sixteen postwar 326s. A modernised version, badged initially as the BMW 340, emerged around 1948. Despite the nomenclature, it was clear that BMW's Eisenach plant was no longer under the control of BMW: later BMW 340s, still based on the prewar 326, were badged as EMW 340s following a protracted dispute concerning title to the BMW name.^[2] It was, perhaps, a tribute to the 326's perceived excellence, together with the skills of the workers who had struggled to revive it, that the Eisenach plant was permitted to produce the BMW design until approximately 1955, long after the Auto Union assembly facilities at nearby Zwickau had been dismantled and removed to Russia as part of the war reparations package.

United Kingdom

The Russians were not alone in being impressed by the 326. Detailed plans of the sedan and coupé derivative models were also rescued by the British. In the 1930s Frazer-Nash had imported and adapted BMW designs. In 1945 just after World War II ended, Frazer-Nash were taken over by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, who negotiated rights to several BMW designs including the 326 and the six-cylinder engine. This led to a succession of Bristol Cars introduced between 1947 and 1953 that were unapologetic developments of the respected BMW design. Almost ten years after the war's end, the Bristol 403 produced between 1953 and 1955 still retained a BMW style front grill: under the skin the engine had been extensively upgraded, and the Bristol 403 now offered a claimed output of 100 bhp (75 kW). The engine size, at 1971 cc, was unchanged.^[8]