BMW doesn’t have a super long history in Formula racing. Yes, BMW did participate in Formula 1 and 2 but it didn’t always and it doesn’t now. It doesn’t have the Formula 1 history of Ferrari or McLaren, for example. However, during its time in Formula racing, it had some pretty awesome cars. Two of which are now for sale on Race Cars Direct.
One of the cars for sale is a 2007 Sauber-BMW F1.07 and it was driven by Sebastian Vettel at one point. In the ad, it specifically says “driven by” and not “raced by”, so it could have been a developmental car and not an actual race car but, still, who cares? It’s awesome.
It’s obviously an open-wheel F1 car with a carbon fiber monocoque chassis so it should be a riot to drive. Powering the Vettel-driven F1 car is a 2.4 liter BMW-sourced V8 and it makes a very good noise. It’s also incredibly fast, obviously, as it’s a flipping F1 car. As a track toy, it’s hard to find something more fun.
Until you see the other old Formula Bimmer for sale. It’s a 1946 BMW Formula 2 car and it’s glorious. The post-war racer used a 2.0 liter naturally-aspirated inline-six engine, whose block was sourced from a BMW 326/327 at the time. It also had three 32mm Weber carburetors and it must make the most wonderful noise. Pre-war and early post-war BMW inline-six engines made unbelievable noises and we can only imagine what sort of sounds this Formula 2 racer makes. It makes 90 hp, or at least it did back in 1946, and that’s more than enough for this little thing to be fun.
The F2 car uses a tubular frame chassis with a BMW 326 front axle, rack and pinion steering, a four-speed manual gearbox with leaf springs at the rear, a rear axle form a BMW 327 and the rear diff from a 326.
The best part about the old F2 car is that it holds FIA papers and is eligible for all sorts of classic and vintage car racing. What a thing to own.
[Source: The Drive]
