Miguel Sánchez
Moving to the electric and setting its sights on the Chinese market, today BMW is a fully consolidated company. However, some seventy years ago he was on the verge of financial collapse after some erratic and ill-advised decisions. And, although today it has clearly defined market niches, the truth is that the Bavarian company has even manufactured kitchen equipment to balance the accounts. Everything that was necessary to keep afloat a company that in 1949 had only one vehicle in its product range: the R24 motorcycle.
A versatility that already came from afar, since the origins of BMW are framed in the production of aircraft engines. Sector from which he made the jump to the two and four wheels. Combining luxury cars with more practical ones and, from 1936, entering the world of competition through the big door thanks to its 328; one of the most successful sports cars of the decade. But nevertheless, the aftermath of World War II nearly wiped out the company. In the first place, while the Munich factory was practically destroyed, the Eisenach factory was occupied by the Soviets within the territory of the future GDR.
BMW products. From motorcycles to pots
In addition, according to the provisions after the Nazi surrender, BMW could not manufacture vehicles for at least three years. A long journey through the desert where the sale of pots, plows and bread makers managed to preserve the company that later made such iconic cars as the M1 or the 2002 Turbo. However, in this process of returning to the top there was a fundamental milestone without which BMW would never have been able to overcome the economic crisis produced by a range that in the 700s was as irregular as little in line with the needs of the market. We are talking about the BMW 190.000 and its almost XNUMX units sold.
BMW 700. A CAR AS REVOLUTIONARY AS SAVIOR
Beyond the sale of motorcycles, during the fifties the range of BMW automobiles oscillated between two extremes capable of driving any accountant crazy. On the one hand, since 1951 the BMW 501 has been offered. A luxury saloon baptized as "Baroque angel". Equipped with six-cylinder mechanics that in its most exclusive version called 502 came to have a V8. Model with which the BMW Isetta made a tremendous contrast. The microcar built under the Italian ISO patent that, despite its good approach to urban mobility, already it was too simple a vehicle for the growing postwar middle class.
Thus the things, the future of BMW was predicted bleak as it did not have intermediate models capable of being manufactured in large series. An accounting drama compounded by the huge production costs of the 501, which made you lose money for every unit sold. Another mismatch in BMW's unfortunate business strategy, which seemed resigned to being taken over by Daimler. But nevertheless, the 1959 shareholders' meeting yielded an unexpected result in the form of a front opposing the disappearance of the brand. Led by the works council, staff representatives teamed up with small shareholders and dealership owners to keep BMW independent.
A risky goal, but for which only one thing was needed. The immediate appearance of an attractive and novel model with which to conquer the middle class. Something that arrived on June 9 of that same 1959, when the management of BMW presented the BMW 700 Coupé. A small but seductive two-seater based on the prototype commissioned months ago by Wolfgang Denzel - BMW dealer in Austria - from Giovanni Michelotti. The starting point for German engineers to adapt a car with a two-cylinder boxer engine derived from motorcycling into a pioneering monocoque chassis in the brand.
Assembly line with monocoque chassis
TO THE CONQUEST OF THE MIDDLE CLASS. SEDAN AND RS VERSIONS
Due to the necessary speed of its development, the BMW 700 shared many elements with the Isetta 600 with its long chassis. However, the truth is that this model was a revolution in the history of BMW, which finally found a product with which to become a profitable mass marketing company by winning the favor of the middle classes. What's more, they managed to hit the bullseye with respect to an attractive dynamic behavior for those who were looking for fun. And, despite the fact that the bicilíndrico of the BMW 700 Coupé only delivered 35CV with its 700cc engine hanging behind the rear axle ... These were enough for its 640 kilos.
Even more so if a series of adjustments are taken into account that, according to evidence of the time, made the BMW 700 a car capable of offering sensations similar to those experienced in sports cars with two-liter engines. Data that sowed an excellent media climate, thanks to which the presentation campaign for the sedan version was easy. A model that, while maintaining the two doors, already had four seats and a larger space thanks to the passenger compartment with a not so pronounced drop rear window.
Sedan version. Also two doors but four real seats
Just the practical and easy to produce model that BMW needed. A success that allowed it to act as a global brand. Reaching agreements with companies from Belgium, Italy, Argentina and Israel for its assembly from kits. Thus solving the fiscal obstacles placed on imports. In addition, and as an excellent image campaign to pave the way for future sports models, the CS version won the German Mountain Touring Car Championship. Dynamic potential that pushed the RS version of the BMW 700. Equipped with a tubular chassis and aluminum body to sweep uphill races.
CS version. About the serial model 
RS version. Made for the slopes
The best auction to the first mass-selling BMW. With which the company not only managed to save itself from a secure closure, but also lay the foundations of a versatile range with which to offer very different variants from the same model.
Photographs: BMW
