7 Awesome BMWs Most Americans Have Never Heard Of

BMW isn’t exactly ancient compared to some automakers — it’s “only” 102 years old. Still, in that time the Bavarians have churned out an insane number of cars. A whole lot of them never made a name for themselves on American roads, and we’re not talking about some wacky concept cars that never saw production. These were real, series-built machines. Here are a few of the coolest ones you probably missed.

1. BMW 600

No, this isn’t the “Boomer” from that movie — it’s something compact and, depending on your taste, either kind of adorable or downright menacing. This little guy was a close relative of the Isetta. It was built from 1957 through 1959 and, unlike the Isetta, actually had a back seat and an extra door. Top speed was 62 mph. Power came from a 0.58-liter two-cylinder engine that made all of 19.5 horsepower. Production lasted just two years, but the 600 ended up being one of the cars that saved BMW from going under.

2. BMW Glas 3000

This coupe started life as the Glas V8 2600, built by Hans Glas GmbH. Just look at that body — it’s got Maserati vibes written all over it. The thing is, the car was a flop. It borrowed too many cues from Mercedes and Porsche, yet it never cracked the magic 124 mph mark that a proper sports coupe of the era needed. After it tanked, BMW scooped up the model. Their engineers dropped in a more powerful engine, but even with that fix the car only stuck around for a year.

3. BMW M3 GTR

If you ever played Need for Speed Most Wanted, you know this car — it was the hero of the whole game. The M3 GTR was the very first series-production M3 and it came packing a serious V8. The engine wore the P60B40 code and was built specifically for racing. In street trim it was detuned to 350 horsepower. On top of that, it got a lightweight body and an aggressive aero kit. In other words, it was a beast with a license plate.

4. BMW 700 RS

When the topic turns to Bavarian sports cars, you can’t leave this one out — even if it’s a ghost on this side of the pond (and frankly, that makes sense). The 700 RS was based on the fairly popular 700 model. It inherited a ton of parts from the BMW 600, but the two-cylinder engine was massaged up to 70 horsepower. With the whole car weighing just 1,100 pounds, that was more than enough to rack up 22 wins in various motorsport events.

5. Lotus-BMW 23B

One of the most successful Group 4 race cars ever, and only three were built. In race spec, they squeezed 155 horsepower out of it. Doesn’t sound like much, right? For a sports car, sure, but the whole thing weighed just under 1,040 pounds. So where does BMW come in? The car was built under a partnership deal, with Bavarian power sitting right behind the driver.

6. BMW-Lola T102

Another weird and wonderful race car that came out of a BMW partnership program. Engineers designed it specifically for Formula 2 competition. The fun part? The actual development was handled almost entirely by Lola. BMW basically outsourced the whole thing and slapped its name on the finished product.

7. BMW Isetta Jagdwagen

This isn’t a kiddie car — it’s a BMW built specifically for hunting. The factory crew put this Isetta together way back in 1955 as a favor to Kurt Donat, the company’s boss at the time and an avid hunter. It ran on a 13-horsepower engine. Only one was ever made, and sadly the original didn’t survive. The photo you’re looking at is a modern replica, recreated down to the smallest detail.