Born out of a BMW 328, this very rare and prestigious Veritas RS is being sold in Germany and could attract more than $500,000
Shortly after the second world war a trio of German engineers, who also dabbled in racing, started tuning BMW 328 cars and campaigning them in motorsport events. Most famous amongst these was Karl Kling, who’d later become a Formula 1 driver for Mercedes-Benz.
BMW weren’t best pleased with the trio’s activities, and their engineering products became known as ‘Veritas’ cars. With the financing of motorsport post-war a rarity, Veritas soaked up demand for new racing cars. Some of its vehicles proved suitable for F1, with 17 entering races and three achieving top 10 finishes, while the heavily BMW 328-based rear-wheel drive Veritas RS was geared towards other forms of racing.
Kling won the Veritas RS’s first ever race in a sports car encounter at Hockenheim, and it won at 15 other German circuits, including several F1 venues. RM Sotheby’s is selling chassis no. 85123, which made its recorded racing debut in the United Kingdom. The 1948 model, registered in 1949, entered Goodwood’s September sportscar meeting and made it onto the podium in a handicap ace.
Inside the car was BMW’s 1998cc inline-six engine, which could propel it to a top speed of nearly 150mph, an incredible speed at the time. Its racing history thereafter is unclear, although it is believed to have entered some races in Germany in 1949.
It was given a brand new aluminium body in the 1960s, before being sold to a Mr Beemsterborer. He wanted to return it to its original specification, but never got round to doing it and sold the car on. Eventually an owner with the money and the time did meet the car, and delivered it to TT Workshops in England to be restored at a supposed cost of over £100,000.
Just over a decade ago the car was sold again in Switzerland at the Geneva Classics auction, attracting CHF668,000 ($650,000). Chassis 85123, which comes with an original engine (no. 105542), will hit the blocks once more during Techno Classica Essen in Germany on April 11/12.
