BMW 321

The BMW 321 was a compact six-cylinder car that BMW produced between 1938 and 1941, introduced at the start of 1939 as the successor to the 320. It sat on a shortened version of the 326 chassis and differed from the 320 in its front suspension, which came from the 326 with upper control arms and a low-mounted transverse leaf spring, as well as in its larger tyres and styling. It was sold as a two-door sedan and a two-door cabriolet, with a chassis-only option for coach-built bodies. Its 1,971 cc straight-six M78 engine gave a claimed 45 PS (33 kW) and a top speed of 115 km/h through a four-speed manual gearbox. Prewar output reached 3,814 cars before the Eisenach plant turned to war production in 1941, and the plant, by then under Soviet control, built the car again from 1945 until 1950.