"CLASSIC OF THE DAY"
Todays classic is available for sale at Coys Showroom in Richmond and harks back to the Post War era.
1948 VERITAS RS
Registration Number: German Registered
Chassis Number: 61651
This Veritas RS was purchased by the current owner in 2001 from the
assets of its deceased owner Björn Övre. Mr. Övre was a collector of
Veritas and early BMW cars who has purchased already in the 1950s and
1960s several Veritas cars in Belgium and imported them to Norway. He
was indeed well known in Veritas circles and often a most welcomed guest
at Veritas meetings at Meßkirch and at the Nürburgring. Sadly his
intention to restore 61651 after retiring did not happen due to his
untimely death.
After being in the now vendors ownership the car was completely restored
by German specialist Georg Thiele and a photographic documentation of
the restoration is available in the cars file. This restoration included
restoring the original space frame, front and rear axles, wheels,
braking system and fitting of new shock absorbers, rebuilt engine with
new pistons, polished con rods, new oil and water pumps (by Feierabend)
and a 5 - speed gearbox is fitted with the original gearbox supplied.
Fresh paint and seats trimmed in the traditional style finish the car.
Today 61651 presents itself in superb race and road ready condition.
This car campaigned in many classic races, rallies and classic outings
all over Europe within the last 10 years while in the ownership of its
current custodian, himself a well known pre - and post war BMW collector
and is in mint condition throughout. Needless to say that it is highly
collectible, very rare and simply beautiful, certainly not to be missed.
For further information or to arrange a viewing, please
contact our sales department.
Manor Court
Lower Mortlake Road
Richmond
TW9 2LL
Telephone Number: 0208 614 7888
Fax Number: 0208 614 7889
SNIPPETS: Supercars.net
In the immediate
post-war period, very few companies were prepared to make race-cars and
hardly any were constructed. Ernst Loof, Lorenz Dietrich and George
Meier recognized this opportunity left by the virtual shut-down of
German industry. So much so, they started Veritas just one year after
the war ended in a small factory at Meßkirch, Baden-Württemberg.
The immediate shortage of supplies after the war meant that the new
sports car had to use many recycled components. Naturally, many of these
were sourced from Germany’s most important prewar race car, the BMW
328. Furthermore, Ernst Loof was an ex-BMW engineer and the very one
that put together von Hanstein’s winning 1940 Mille Miglia Coupe. Loof
knew the 328’s 6-cylinder engine was the most suitable power train
available. The British understood this even more copied the design for a
Bristol engine which powered numerous English sports cars.
In many ways the Veritas was a re-built BMW 328 with a new aerodynamic
body. Some cars used the original 328 chassis with a complex network of
tubes to support the larger aluminum body. The very first cars actually
raced as BMW-Veritas. Later, objection from BMW meant that the model
would be simply known as the Veritas Rennsport.
Around the BMW power train, the Veritas used a steel chassis and
slab-sided aluminum body. Many cars were built from customer-supplied
parts. Veritas could offer engine tuning upwards of 125 bhp. This
package set a 2-liter speed-record of 147 mph on the Belgian Autoroute
at Jabbeke. Direct competition came from the emerging Ferrari 166,
Frazer Nash Le Mans and Osca MT4.
Following the return to stability and economic growth, Veritas enjoyed
success during the rebirth motor sports. One of their first customers
was Karl Kling who won at Hockenheim in 1947. He later scored a major
victory at the 1949
ADAC Eifelrennen race on the Nürburgring. He averaged almost 100 mph
around the circuit. These victories put Veritas on the map, but the
supply of pre-war 328 components were drying up.
With a huge amount of orders on the table, Loof was forced to make an
engine on his own. He employed the services of Heinkel Flugzeugwerke who
took a break from their aircraft business to produce an engine similar
to the 328’s. The new unit was cast entirely in aluminum rather than the
original’s cast iron. Furthermore, it had seven main bearings, a square
bore & stroke, hemi combustion chambers and three downdraught
carburetors. Being built by hand, only 50 of these units were built
before production haulted.
In 1951, a Veritas was converted into a single-seat Formula 1 racer
known as the Meteor. Run under the F2 regulations, many cars contested
the 1951 and 1952 German Grand Prix with mediocre results.
In 1949, Veritas relocated to Muggensturm and to the Nürburgring in
1950. Unfortunately, the performance capabilities of the car were
suffering compared to the competition. The company tried to branch out
and make road-cars known as the Komet, Saturn and Scorpion as well as
produce a new engine by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke. With a short supply of
money, even the reported 200 orders couldn’t save the company. By 1953,
the small firm closed and Ernst Loof went back to BMW.
Production of the Rennsport was limited to about 20-25 cars of which 15
survive. Many had detail differences to suit the needs of each
individual customer and the available supply of components.
Sales
In 2007 the Sports Car Auction company of Switzerland sold chassis 85123
at their Geneva Classics auction. The company sold it for a remarkable
CHF 668'000 or $650,000 USD.
The sale described it as “restored to the original renn-spyder
configuration. Although chassis 85123 took part in several races in
Germany that year, its first recorded overseas race is with Dennis Poore
in 1949 at Goodwood where it placed 6th at the September sportscar
meeting. In the early 1960s it was given a more stylish body treatment
before being sold to a Mr Beemsterborer. He intended to restore it to
original, but this did not happen until in the 1980s it was bought by a
German owner, from where it arrived in England where this work was
carried out by the highly respected TT Workshops Ltd at a cost reputed
to be over £100’000.”
Sources & Further Reading
Frank, Len. ‘1947 Veritas Rennsportwagen’ Motor Trend. June 1983.
Read more at http://www.supercars.net/cars/2806.html#I4elHWEm6GmbPrTU.99
In Detail
| submitted by |
Richard Michael Owen |
| type |
Racing Car |
| production years |
1948 - 1952 |
| built at |
Meßkirch, Germany |
| engineers |
Ernst Loof |
| production |
22 |
| predeccesor |
1936 BMW 328 Roadster |
| succeccesor |
2010 Veritas RS III |
| engine |
BMW Inline-6 |
| position |
Front Longitudinal |
| block material |
Cast Iron |
| valvetrain |
Pushrod OHV |
| displacement |
1999.6 cc / 122.02 in³ |
| body / frame |
Aluminum Body over Steel Tube Frame |
| driven wheels |
RWD |
| curb weight |
545 kg / 1200 lbs |
| top speed |
~236.52 kph / 147 mph |
.
Read more at http://www.supercars.net/cars/2806.html#I4elHWEm6GmbPrTU.99.
All images are Copyright of COYS
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![[Image: illustration 4 of 6 for lot 1755]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_umS-YCf4TExoXL2_ngnFyG8t9KmMm5ConW77AFCZ4jYNbH0sRHphKQh4G4Nyl2mCT1mIBZfjyr8HzwunT25RIk6Q2NfZWFC4cPXEnoPAKmrNPDthB1Fi1MuJFd2w=s0-d)
![[Image: illustration 5 of 6 for lot 1755]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uj8sz41zxP8S0-R6aHRjv3ZerOzJGLg_fFKzHNg9AgczpNemXrNTxgYB3DRJ6-QDECL_CWz5utxTpWnCITUqqCn9D9ruxj4JceisYwOj43Y7_0IQeYcDMfcLFbVw=s0-d)
