Three days in Bavaria
Tracing the early treasures of any motor vehicle company is totally absorbing for any classic car enthusiast, especially when the brand enjoys as much heritage as BMW. Travelling with a small group of New Zealand motoring writers to Europe 26 years ago, we were guests of the German carmaker to drive the-then new E38 7 Series sedan and the 3 Series compact, but our hosts also wanted us to experience many of the earlier models that built the foundation of the highly respected marque.
Arriving at Munich airport and the adjacent and extremely modern Hotel Kempinski, we were greeted by a handsome line-up of early Beamers. Yet this was merely the first of many surprises that the Bavarians had in store for us. It was early summer 1994; the sun was shining; and billiard-table-smooth, relatively traffic-free highways awaited us on unrestricted autobahns, where pushing a car to 250kph was perfectly legal.
OFF TO A FLYING START…
The first car to catch my eye was
