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100 years of BMW - a constant quest for more and better mobility
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Created on March 7, 2016
, Reading time 34min
Written by:
Olaf von Fersen / BMW / Bruno von Rotz
Photos:
Daniel Reinhard
3BMW AG
59Bruno von Rotz
4BMW Group Archiv
2Archiv BMW AG
1Archiv BMW
1Archiv
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Summary
On March 7, 2016, BMW celebrates its centenary. A century of engine and vehicle construction rich in stories, successes and failures. And a good reason to look back. In 1966, Olaf von Fersen wrote a review of the first fifty years, which is now supplemented in this article by the next fifty years and illustrated with many pictures.
This article contains the following chapters
- The best aircraft engine
- The first vehicle
- The first car
- First motorsport successes
- First in-house automobile design
- The first six-cylinder
- Formative visionaries and technicians
- Reconstruction after the war
- The cabin scooter as a savior
- Expensive entry into the top class
- The little ones against the big ones
- Financial bottlenecks and BMW as a takeover candidate
- Rise with the "New Class"
- Strengthened, but not big enough?
- The four-door became a two-door
- Re-entry into the luxury class
- Super sports car
- The first twelve-cylinder
- Plastic bodywork in series production for the first time
- More or less successful acquisitions
- Off-road vehicles too
- The mobility of the future?
- Important vehicle types of the last 100 years
- 100 dates from 100 years (source BMW)
Estimated reading time: 34min
Preview (beginning of the article)
On March 7, 2016, Bayerische Motorenwerke celebrates its 100th birthday. BMW was founded on March 7, 1916 through the merger of Rapp-Motorenwerke, which had been founded three years earlier, with Gustav-Otto-Flugmaschinenfabrik München, which was founded in 1911. However, the company created by this merger did not adopt the name "Bayerische Motorenwerke" until a year later. Initially, BMW exclusively produced aircraft engines, for which there was a strong demand during the First World War. The young factory was soon able to enter the international record lists for the first time: in 1919, a DFW biplane with a 300 hp BMW engine flew to a record altitude. 9760 m was a sensational achievement at the time, which caused hardly less of a stir than the attempts to reach outer space today.
Welcome to Zwischengas!
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