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Visit also: 1931 BMW 3/15 DA 4 | 1932 BMW 3/20 PS | 1933 BMW 303 | 1934 BMW 309 | 1934 BMW 315 | 1934 BMW 319

Gebráder Ihle Karosserie und Apparatebau was a body shop and engineering company in Germany. After the first world war it supplied vehicles for fairground operators. In 1934, they designed a sports-car body to be mounted on a BMW Dixi chassis. The first advertisements for the special bodywork appeared in 1935. Ihle built a body closely based on the original BMW 3/15 DA 3 Wartburg sports car design which resembled Bugatti’s competition cars. It had a tiny, light-weight, all-steel body with a flat radiator, a windshield which folded down, and a pointed tail. With an improved carburetor, transmission and brake system, the Ihle cars had quicker acceleration and nimble handling at speeds up to 50 mph.

1935 - 1939 BMW 3/15 Ihle Type 600 / 800 photo gallery

Customers could purchase the body and install it themselves or deliver an old Dixi chassis to Ihle and have the body fitted at the factory. Various versions of these first Ihle models are known, usually differing only in the style of the hood and radiator. Launched during the Karlsruhe Cloverleaf Races, the Ihle introduced the first "kidney grille", soon to become the BMW tradmark.

Source: Lane Motor Museum

Visit also: 1931 BMW 3/15 DA 4 | 1932 BMW 3/20 PS | 1933 BMW 303 | 1934 BMW 309 | 1934 BMW 315 | 1934 BMW 319

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