Launched by BMW in 1937 as a sleek and sensual cabriolet, the 327 represented a great shift in the design language of the Bavarian firm: Instead of the boxy, upright sedans of the previous decade, the cabriolet was all lightness and flow; the 327’s elegant shape appeared to move even while standing still.

The model’s ample performance was further improved when the 327/28 was introduced, bringing the 328’s potent inline-six, with its hemispherical combustion chambers and crossflow head, to the luxurious cabriolet.

A limited number of these uprated cars were produced in period.

Others, this chassis among them, have enjoyed later upgrades to desirable 327/28 specification.

This BMW arrived on US soil following World War II under the care of a Colonel Ott.

It was later sold to Chester R.

Lewis of Pennsylvania in 1959, who sparingly used it over the subsequent decades.

In 1990, it was shipped to Seattle, Washington for its next caretaker, Fritz Gechter, and 1996, it was acquired by t...