The BMW Century Chronicles Germany’s Biggest Two & 4-Wheeled Machines

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“It is a good ebook,” I stated as I leafed by way of The BMW Century. “Very befitting one of many world’s nice automakers.” Just like the automobiles, the ebook is nicely constructed from premium supplies, telling the story of and celebrating the Bavarian firm’s first century. And if any ebook might carry out in addition to an M Collection automotive, The BMW Century can be it.  

The BMW Century, 2nd Version

The BMW Century, now in its second version, was written by Tony Lewin, an editor for and contributor to Automotive Information Europe. Along with The BMW Century, Lewin has written a bunch of different titles for Motorbooks, together with The right way to Design Automobiles Like a Professional, The Full E book of BMW, and Pace Learn: Automotive Design.

In simply 240 pages, Lewin covers the corporate’s historical past in depth. And to make issues extra attention-grabbing, the entire ebook is stuffed filled with nice photos! So 240 pages to cowl 100 years is just not quite a lot of room to incorporate all these automobiles.

Bikes & Airplanes

Oops, did I say automobiles? That’s solely partially correct as The BMW Century handles each the autos and bikes constructed by BMW, and it does so so as. Lewin begins initially and, 12 months by 12 months, takes us to the current day for BMW. It makes The BMW Century a little bit of a twofer of a ebook. Should you’re a automotive man or gal, you get some cool additional bike content material you weren’t bargaining on, and vice versa.

Oh, and planes. Lewin begins by overlaying how BMW initially made plane engines, a wonderful place to begin if you wish to make energy crops for both automobiles or bikes that weigh much less and output extra.

• Photograph gallery from The BMW Century by Tony Lewin, revealed by Motorbooks. Pictures: BMW AG Press Membership/BMW Press Archive.

World Struggle II Years

The subsequent factor you notice as you’re studying is how Lewin has taken us from the 1916 founding of the corporate as much as the Nineteen Thirties when issues actually bought going. It’s attention-grabbing to notice right here that though BMW made some excellent automobiles within the Pre-Struggle Period (the 328 Roadster, for instance), their bikes put them on the map (consider Pre-Struggle BMW like Honda earlier than the Civic). 

The BMW Century does point out the conflict years in Chapter 5, Struggle and Postwar, nevertheless it’s primarily a fast gloss over and onto the Fifties. I don’t blame Lewin, however the entire vibe of that chapter is, “The conflict was onerous. All our crops bought bombed. It was a battle.” After all, BMW was complicit as much as its neck within the happenings of Nazi Germany, as even a cursory reading of history will present. 

BMW In The Seventies

The years main as much as roughly the Seventies are coved in a really business-oriented manner by Lewin. That’s becoming, nevertheless it’s very illuminating as nicely. BMW needed to go from a barely respiratory enterprise entity to a totally functioning and worthwhile world automaker, and that was something however straightforward.

Primarily, it boils right down to some vital components that also serve BMW (and Mercedes-Benz) nicely at the moment; they’ve at all times been an engineering-based outfit run by pragmatic and expert people. That’s how we get from a BMW Isetta bubble automotive within the Fifties to an “Oh mein Gott, halte durch!” BMW M3 20 years later.

An Wonderful Reward

The BMW Century works in an entire slew of the way. If you need a espresso desk ebook, it’s that. If you need a real BMW fanatic’s ebook, it really works as that, too. If you need a BMW bike ebook, it’s bought you coated. If you understand anyone who’s a gearhead usually or a BMW fan specifically, The BMW Century would make a fantastic present. They’ll unwrap it and say, “It is a good ebook.” I do know I positive did. 

As of this writing, new and used copies of The BMW Century are available on Amazon. To study extra about Lewin and a few attention-grabbing info about BMW, listen to his appearance on the Automobiles Yeah podcast with Mark Greene.

Longtime Automoblog author Tony Borroz has labored on standard driving video games as a content material knowledgeable, along with working for aerospace firms, software program giants, and as a film stuntman. He lives within the northeast nook of the northwestern-most a part of the Pacific Northwest.