When the production capacity of the compact four-door BMW 1500 surpassed the capacity of the Munich plant, management decided to buy Glas and absorb the Glas model line. Some of the Glas models were rebadged as BMWs until the company was fully absorbed, but most of them were retired. With the purchase, BMW gained access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft, the Dingolfing plant, and a labor force of highly qualified engineers.

Prior to the acquisition, Hans Glas GmbH had teamed with Pietro Frau to design a range of cars that would help save the struggling company. The line of vehicles included the 1700GT coupe and convertible and the larger 2600, a 2+2 coupe that was nicknamed the 'Glaserati' for its similarities to the Frua-designed Maserati.

With BMW's acquisition of Glas, the 2600 line was continued but received an upgrade to 3.0-liter specification. To help keep development costs low, the upper part of the Glas four-cylinder engine received a new block and was positioned in a 'V' configuration. The resulting V8 received belt-driven overhead camshafts, a triple-barrel downdraft carburetor, Glas-branded cam covers, and offered 160 horsepower at 5,100 RPM and 173 lb-ft of torque at 3,400 RPM. It was backed by a four-speed manual transmission and the independent suspension setup was comprised of upper and lower A-arms with coil springs in the front and a leaf-sprung independent De Dion rear axle with inboard disc brakes flanking a rubber-mounted differential.

Production of the BMW Glas 3000 V8 lasted from June of 1967 through May of 1968 with 389 examples built.

by Dan Vaughan