German manufacturer Glas rode into the sunset a long time ago, but a beautiful piece of its history, this 1967 BMW-Glas 3000 V8 fastback coupe, is alive and well. The gorgeous one-off prototype was created by Italian designer Pietro Frua, and is so rare we feel it’s only helpful to fill you in on its history before you soon will have a shot at owning it. Provided, of course, you can make it to next month’s Bonhams auction at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Before Glas faded from the automotive landscape, the 3000 V8 debuted under the “BMW-Glas” name with an upgraded 3.0-liter V-8 making 160 horsepower. This stylish fastback coupe prototype was one of a kind, and it survived after making the rounds at auto shows in Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, and finally, Barcelona, when it was sold to its first owner, who kept the car for more than 20 years until his death.
Another owner commissioned a full mechanical restoration on the BMW-Glas five years ago, and the interior was also reupholstered. At the same time, the car was also repainted in its original silver-blue metallic color, which it wore when it was shown in Paris in 1967. (This undid an early repaint to a red hue for the Barcelona auto show.) In 2016, a new owner took possession of the car and gave it further mechanical updates. Now, Bonhams says the BMW-Glas is ready to be displayed, even driven, and is estimating that the car will sell for a cool $280,000 to $390,000.
Before building little cars such as the successful Goggomobil microcar and the GT coupe, Glas made agricultural machinery. In 1965, it showed off the 2600 V8, a car that was nicknamed “Glaserati” because of its resemblance to Maseratis of the time. Financial problems pushed the company into BMW’s arms in 1966, and the brand didn’t last much longer beyond that—although it survived just long enough to turn out the 3000 GT fastback. Given how the brief history behind Glas starts, oddly enough, on a farm and ends with this very prototype coupe, whoever buys this 3000 V8 is getting a stunning car and a rolling totem to obscure automotive history.
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Source: WORLD NEWS
