Puzzle #947 - Solved! AFM Rennsportwagen / Modified BMW 328

[Otto Puzzell]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know the make and model designation of the car posted here.

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[Otto Puzzell]

Moved

[D-type]

Veritas?

[Otto Puzzell]

No sir.

[Arunas]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know the make and model designation of the car posted here.

If you haven't registered yet, you need to do so in order to reply with your answer.  You can do so by clicking here.

Also, please be sure to check out our other puzzles, and, please post a puzzle of your own if you'd like - the more, the merrier.

Thanks!

Portuguese?

[Otto Puzzell]

No sir.

[Arunas]

German ? 

[Arunas]

I think I know :-D Maybe it is German 1938 AFM Rennsportwagen? If I am right, I could tell where to get more pictures of it, but I was told not to provide too many links.. So.. 

[Allemano]

I'm sure you're right Arunas! Your ability to solve mysteries is simply astonishing!
The car was exhibited at the Techno Classica, an annual fair of classic cars in my hometown Essen/Germany.

[Arunas]

I'm sure you're right Arunas! Your ability to solve mysteries is simply astonishing!
The car was exhibited at the Techno Classica, an annual fair of classic cars in my hometown Essen/Germany.

Really !? Great! :-D

[Allan L]

I do not think that Alex v. Falkenhausen built cars under the AFM name before the War. I reckon his first single-seater was built in 1948.
He was a development engineer with BMW pre-war and worked on the 328
Is this perhaps the sports car rebuilt from the wreck of  AFM-50 (F2 car) in this photo at the Sachsenring in 1951?

[Arunas]

I do not think that Alex v. Falkenhausen built cars under the AFM name before the War. I reckon his first single-seater was built in 1948.
He was a development engineer with BMW pre-war and worked on the 328
Is this perhaps the sports car rebuilt from the wreck of  AFM-50 (F2 car) in this photo at the Sachsenring in 1951?

I don't know so much about AFM, but the link says it is AFM :-) <<< link deleted  >>>

[Otto Puzzell]

Again with the links? 

According to the seller, the car dates to 1938, and the body is from 1948.

[Allan L]

Some of the people who exhibit at Techno Classica seem to be a bit optimistic in their history. The BMW328 engine probably dates from 1938, but that's all.
I do not really know, but if A. v. Falkenhausen had built a car like that in 1938, I am sure the 1940 Mille Miglia BMWs would have looked a bit more modern.

The open car looked like this

[Wendax]

This car is a miracle: it claims to be a car it isn't. It is not mentioned either in Schumann's Motorsport in Deutschland 1945-1955 nor in Freese' AFM book. Its online legend is that it is:
- a 1938 BMW 328 AFM,
- built in 1948,
- built on the chassis of Gommann's AFM 50,
- the sports car Karl-Günther Bechem drove in 1953 at the Großer Preis von Deutschland,
- the AFM 50-5,
- a BMW 328 modified in Hungary in the 1950s,
- found in 2000 in a Berlin garage,
- restored by Classic Concepts of Willich.

As mentioned before, AFM started building race cars in 1947, so it can't be a 1938 AFM. If it had been built by AFM it wouldn't have used a BMW 328 chassis, just the engine. It is not Bechem's car (https://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/2012-41/solved-neh-1643-eigenbau-built-by-karl-gunther-bechem-on-crashed-afm-50-1950/) which was built on Gommann's AFM 50 and looked entirely different. There were only four AFM 50 built, so what is a 50-5? The Hungarian story sounds most probable, although I don't have a proof for it. I guess the only AFM parts on this car are the wheels and the emblem.

[Wendax]

It seems this could be a historic picture of the car. The front is different, but the rest of the bodywork might fit. It is captioned as an AFM-Veritas by Rappold. Needless to say that there never was such car as a AFM-Veritas. It was either Veritas or AFM. Rappold built bodies for both brands. Interesting that on this historic picture the car lacks the AFM badge as well as the AFM wheels. Another indication for a private BMW 328-based race car.

Does anybody recognize where the H-60597 license plate on the 1951 Kaiser in the background comes from?

[Carnut]

The plate on the Kaiser is most probably a pre-1951 Netherlands plate issued in Zuid Holland. They had one letter followed by a dash then up to 5 numbers with white characters on a very dark blue (almost black) background.

Or it could perhaps be from Norway; 'H' was for cars registered in Telemark, followed by a dot or hyphen then up to 6 numbers.

[Wendax]

And at some other time with another side vent:

[Wendax]

In the Rappold book it is mentioned that the body was made for the Dutch racing driver Johann Westhof. He is known for having driven Veritas, but not AFM.

[galrot]

The plate on the Kaiser is most probably a pre-1951 Netherlands plate issued in Zuid Holland. They had one letter followed by a dash then up to 5 numbers with white characters on a very dark blue (almost black) background.

Or it could perhaps be from Norway; 'H' was for cars registered in Telemark, followed by a dot or hyphen then up to 6 numbers.

It's not a Norwegian plate. Norway have used white plates with black letters since 1913.

This is how a period Norwegian plate looked like (this one is registered in Trondheim):