The Forgotten Trossi BMW

By the summer of 1937, whispers were already circulating among the coachbuilders of Northern Italy that Carlo Felice Trossi, the mercurial aristocrat, racing driver, and design dilettante, had taken an interest in BMW’s new 328 roadster. Trossi had already stunned the European motoring world with his dramatically rebodied Mercedes-Benz SSK — the long-fendered, black-lacquered machine whose radical silhouette made it seem less a motorcar and more a nocturnal creature ready to pounce.

What few people realized at the time was that Trossi was simultaneously pursuing a second project — a “piccolo fratello,” a little brother roadster, echoing the same sweeping lines and sculptural forms of his formidable SSK, but fashioned on the compact, athletic chassis of BMW’s jewel-like 328.

A Private Commission — and a Challenge

Trossi saw something in the BMW that resonated with his sensibilities. The lightweight tubular frame, the advanced hemispherical-combustion engine, and the crisp handling were unlike anything else in its class. Yet, in his eyes, the factory bodywork lacked the visual drama he demanded from his personal machines.

So, late in 1937, he quietly obtained a bare 328 chassis through private channels. Instead of turning to the German coachbuilders who had bodied many early 328s, he approached the same small Turin workshop that had executed much of the metal shaping on his SSK. Surviving correspondence suggests Trossi supplied sketches drawn in his own hand — fluid arcs; a rear fender line that swooped like a falcon’s wing; a roofless deck tapering to a perfect teardrop; and, most tellingly, instructions that the paint be “nero profondo — identical to the SSK.”

The artisans called it Il Gemello Nero — the “Black Twin.”

The Shape Takes Form

Built entirely in hand-wheeled aluminum rather than steel, the car was astonishingly light. The design carried unmistakable echoes of the SSK’s proportions, especially the elongated rear fenders enveloping the wheels and the tightly drawn bonnet with horizontal side gills. But the 328’s shorter wheelbase and lower engine profile allowed a more compact, feline crouch.

The windscreen was raked as sharply as period regulations allowed, its frame in polished alloy. No bumpers were fitted. Entry required stepping over the low doors, just as with the SSK. Trossi insisted on black-painted wire wheels — a detail that enraged BMW purists and delighted aesthetes in equal measure.

When completed in early 1939, the car was delivered to Trossi at Villa d’Este on Lake Como, where he often stayed during the spring concours season.

The Afternoon at Villa d’Este

The most famous period photograph — rarely reproduced today — comes from a late-afternoon gathering on the lakefront terraces of Villa d’Este. The Mercedes SSK “Black Prince” sat glimmering under the cypresses, its voluptuous bodywork already well known in enthusiast circles. Parked next to it, smaller but no less striking, was the new BMW 328 roadster in matching black, its curves catching the warm Como light.

Spectators thought it an official BMW creation; some believed it a smaller prototype to accompany the Mille Miglia cars. Several Italian magazines mentioned it only briefly, assuming it was an experimental Touring body or a private commission of no particular consequence.

Trossi himself offered no explanation. He simply drove the BMW along the lakeside promenade with the same quiet pride he reserved for his greatest racing machines.

A Car Rarely Seen, Then Lost

Unlike the SSK, which Trossi continued to display and occasionally exercise, the BMW “Black Twin” saw little road use. It was used intermittently — a few runs between Biella and Turin, a noted appearance at a private Fiat gathering, and a brief cameo at the 1939 Villa d’Este concours, where it was not formally entered but parked among the supporting cars.

With the instability of the late 1930s and Trossi’s growing involvement with Scuderia Ferrari and the 158 Alfetta project, the BMW fell into quiet obscurity. Wartime requisitioning, storage, and relocation scattered dozens of privately owned cars across Northern Italy. The trail of the BMW 328 “Black Twin” survives in only fragmented notes and in an old picture.

The car’s ultimate fate remains unknown.