Puzzle #1803 - BMW 303 Sport Rennwagen with Stiller Body

[Otto Puzzell]

Please, respond below and identify the car and the coachbuilder.  

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Thanks!

[Otto Puzzell]

Experts

[woodinsight]

Italian?

[Otto Puzzell]

No

[woodinsight]

European?

[Otto Puzzell]

Yes

[woodinsight]

French?

[Otto Puzzell]

French?

no

[Carnut]

Those look like Mercedes rear lights to me; so is it German?

[Otto Puzzell]

Yes (but not Mercedes)

[D-type]

Are the rear lights a later addition?

[Otto Puzzell]

Possibly. This car was occasionally modified over the years, but it's basic configuration and look remain intact. 

[Otto Puzzell]

Pros?

[woodinsight]

Any BMW connection?

[Otto Puzzell]

Indeed!

[Allan L]

It appears to be a BMW 303 Sport which would originally date from c1933, but I can't find anything like it in Werner Oswald so it could have been rebodied into this form at more or less any time in the last 77 years - well perhaps not during 1939-45!

[Allemano]

BMW 303 Sport Rennwagen (racing car) by Karosserie Stiller.

[Allan L]

I see it is for sale! They say 1934, and imply it was bodied like that from the beginning. . . but it's got a 315 motor now.

[Otto Puzzell]

BMW 303 Sport Rennwagen (racing car) by Karosserie Stiller.

That's it!

The rolling chassis was sold in 1934 at the BMW dealer Stösser in Munich. Coachbuilder Stiller built the race car body, which in the following years, underwent slight modifications. In the late 1930s, the larger 1.5-liter 6-cylinder from the BMW 315 was installed. As Allan noted, that engine remains in the car, which is for sale.

[Walt]

This is my car.  I've had it since 1961.  Let me know if you have any questions. USA 704-201-7854
Walt

[Carnut]

This is my car.  I've had it since 1961.  Let me know if you have any questions. USA 704-201-7854
Walt

Great to see its owner here.
You weren't really wanting to sell it were you?!

[Wendax]

A photo from the 60s (sorry for the "watermark"):

[Paul Jaray]

A photo from the 60s (sorry for the "watermark"):

The car crashed into it... :-\

[Wendax]

Meanwhile some more facts have come to light. The car was built in 1934 for race driver Eugen Stösser. It is not a modified 303, but the chassis #46534 was a one-off, the engine was reduced to 1098 cc and placed further back, so that a Zoller supercharger could be placed in front of it (see the first four pictures below). In 1936 it was sold to Stiller, who changed the engine and added cycle wings as well as an aerodynamic front axle cover (see last picture below). Stiller sold the car in the early 1940s. After the war a two-litre engine was fitted, a windscreen and a roadster top added, and the rear was modified featuring 190 SL rear lights. The car has been carefully restored now.