1939 BMW RS 255
Supercharged racing motorcycles were all the rage in the
1930s. BMW's Kompressor flat twin claimed speed records, gold medals and TT
accolades just before the outbreak of war...
BMW started experimenting with supercharging their flat
twins in the late 1920s and a decade later had refined their Kompressor works
racer into a world-beater. The DOHC twin used a huge Zoller blower built onto
the front of the crankcases, with the cams driven by a single timing shaft. The
remarkably reliable and versatile set-up boosted output of the 493cc engine to
give 80bhp at 8000rpm, which translated to a top speed of 140mph on short
circuits.
When fettled for outright straight-line speed, the 66mm by
72mm supercharged motor was capable of generating 105bhp at 8000rpm for land
speed record attempts. Suitably swathed in an aluminium body shell, it claimed
the motorcycle speed record on an autobahn near Frankfurt at 159mph in 1935;
then 168mph in 1936, and finally 173.681mph in 1937 -a record which stood
unbroken until 1951.
Meanwhile, the supercharged BMW started to enjoy success on
short circuits and in road races. Kitted out with an unusually advanced tele
fork front end in 1935 (followed by plunger rear suspension in 1936 on some
machines); a foot-shift four-speed gearbox and weighing a smidgen over 300lb,
the Kompressor 500 won the 1937 Ulster Grand Prix - thanks in part to a superb
ride by pilot Jock West. It also proved competitive in the ISDT competitions of
the mid-30s, which is when Schorsch (who soon became known as 'George') Meier
first put it to good use in helping to secure a team Gold medal.
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However, the roaring Beemers took a couple of seasons to
find their feet on the Isle of Man. Jock West was again loaned a works
Kompressor - the first official BMW machine to enter the TT - and came sixth in
the Senior in 1937. In the 1938 TT, the best that the works team of three
riders could manage was fifth place in the Senior when George Meier was forced
to retire thank to a faulty spark plug and an accident sidelined Karl Gall.
Interestingly, Jock West was riding a Kompressor with the earlier rigid frame
while Meier and Gall were equipped with the new sprung model, which initially
proved harder to manage on the demanding Island course.
Finally in 1939 the Kompressor BMW lived up to its full
potential. Meier became the first foreign rider to secure the top step at the
Isle of Man Senior TT while Jock West (who, incidentally, was the first English
rider to join the BMW works team) secured second place. These successes were a
particularly bittersweet accomplishment as the third member of the BMW team, Karl
Gall, was fatally injured in practice. That accident served to underscore
Meier's performance. He led from the start to the chequered flag, and set a new
lap record on his initial circuit. With two pit stops, he completed the course
in two hours and 57 minutes at an average speed of 89.108mph.
Said Meier; 'What I really wanted to do most at that point
was literally kiss and hug my wonderful machine with its white-and-blue colours
on the tank which, apart from all those flies on the wind deflector, still
looked brand new, without the slightest trace of oil or any signs of the
incredible race we had just been through.'
When Jock West crossed the line some two minutes later, he
was more than half a minute ahead of privately-entered Norton rider Freddie Frith.
The BMW one-two was a propaganda coup for the Nazi administration - which had
also sponsored teams from NSU and DKW to attend the 1939 TT. To be fair to
Norton, they did not enter a works team in the 1939 TT, concentrating instead
on tooling up for war production. And indeed, just three months later, Britain
and Germany were at war.
Hostilities took centre stage - then after the war, the
mighty Kompressors raced again as some of the works machines were claimed as
war reparations while Meier himself campaigned one in German post-war
championships. When Germany was once again allowed to participate in
international motorcycle racing, supercharged engines had been barred, and so
the Kompressor never competed again on the world stage. John Surtees once said
that the Kompressor BMW 'rightly deserves a place as being one of the all-time
greats of motorcycle Grand Prix racing.'
Now four Bavarian racers will go under the hammer at Bonhams
auction in Las Vegas in January 2013, with a 1939 RS (rennsport) 255 Kompressor
leading the pack. The RS 255 is a documented supercharged 1939 engine mounted
in an authentic 1951 frame, and it's accompanied by a 1954 BMW RS 254, a 1954
BMW RS 254 outfit and a 1956 BMW RS 256.
The last time Bonhams auctioned a similar machine was in
2010, when a very rare, factory prepared 1939 BMW RS R51 sold for US$130,200.
Likewise, this quartet of German racers is expected to attract significant
interest, particularly the Kompressor. The sale takes place on 10th January
2013 at Bally's Hotel and Casino on The Strip.
Text by Realclassics.co.uk
