Packed with hundreds of archive photographs，most of them in full colour，The Ultimate History of BMW tells the fascinating story of one of the world's greatest marques.

Every important BMW model is here，from the rarly cars of the 1920s to the latest head-turners from the current BMW range-together with the inside story of James Bond's BMWs and that of the company's successes in touring car racing，at Le Mans and in Formula1.

BMW is one of the greatest of all motoring names,renowned for the quality of its engineering and admired for its successes both on the race track and in the global marketplace. But the BMW's story is more than simply the chronicle of the birth and development of a great company:it is also the story of triumph and disaster, of bankruptcy and rescue, of crisis and recovery.

The fledgling company began by building aero-engines,then branched out to making motorcycles under its own name, and finally, by the end of the 1920s, its own cars.While the first BMW care, the Dixi, was little more than a license-built Austin Seven, BMW quickly developed its own range and by the 1930s the propeller-derived blue and white badge was already a force to be reckoned with in touring car racing.

In the post-war years the BMW car range was an odd mixture of large, expensive sedans and the tiny Isetta bubble car. By the end of the 1950s sales were at such a low ebb that a crisis meeting was held to decide the future of the company. A small group of investors held out against a merger which would have seen the end of BMW and soon the company was producing desirable, quality cars. Sales soared.

In the 1970s BMW dominated single-seater Formula 2 racing, then early in the 1980s, entered Formula 1 motor racing with the Brabham team and produced some of the most powerful F1 cars ever seen. Corporate confidence soared, and the company diversified: it built Z-series roadster, X-series four-wheel drives and invested in the troubled British car maker Rover. Today the BMW badge is once again at the front of the F1 grids, this time with the Williams team.

Introduction

The Birth of Bmw 1916-30

Sports Car Successes 1930-45

Baroque Angels and Bankruptcy 1945-59

Rescue and Revival 1959-72

Unbeatable BMW 1972-80

BMW Power 1980-85

Ever More Competitive 1985-94

Style and Substance 1994-99

Generation X 1999-2004

Today and Tomorrow 2004 and Beyond

Index