My office is in the heart of London's Mayfair, with the fashion boutiques and jewellers of Old Bond Street just round the corner, Sotheby's famous auction house opposite and many of London's great squares all within walking distance. Even on a rainy day you'll see across all manner of motoring exotica cruising around – Porsches, Astons, Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis gliding around the back-streets, exhaust notes echoing off the old buildings. Bentley and Audi have showrooms off Berkeley Square, and both have displayed Le Mans-winning sports prototypes in the past.
It's an enthusiasts playground, and even better I have a huge plate-glass window near my desk that looks out onto the street which allows plenty of opportunity to spot passing machinery. But every so often something that bit different turns up. This beautiful 2-door BMW 2002 coupé parked up right outside, so I grabbed the camera and ran out to get some pictures. Unfortunately I didn't catch the owner, but it's in absolutely pristine condition: shining midnight blue paint and gleaming chrome.
The 2002 was part of the BMW Neue Klasse series, which began production in 1962, ended in 1977 and covered 2- and 4-door variants and various capacity engines. This model is a 2-litre version of the 1600 designed by renowned Italian stylist Giovanni Michelotti in an effort to move away from the more boxy style of previous BMWs. The 1990cc engine produced 130bhp with a top speed of 115mph – a Turbo model was launched in 1973 with an extra 40bhp.
The 2002 is probably the most popular Neue Klasse model: it sold over 330,000 units during its production run. Along with the Turbo there were also the uprated Tii and Alpina variants. Of course, this being BMW it was raced with success in many forms over the whole period of the series' life. In 1966 a 2000Ti was the first car to lap the Nürburgring in under 10 minutes; the 2002 won the European Touring Car Championship in '68 and '69; a 2002 won the first ever Nürburgring 24 hour race in 1970; in lightweight form the 2002Ti won the Austrian round of the World Rally Championship in 1973.
The interior of this car was also predictably immaculate, down to the big steering wheel and period seats where the backs hardly reach as far as your shoulder blades. With its swept-forward nose and clean lines I think it still looks great today, especially when it seems like it's come straight off a BMW forecourt.
Jonathan Moore
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Beautiful car, epically restored. Too bad you didn't get to talk to the owner.
Looks like it comes straight out of the factory. Awesome.
love the color super clean car. the race 02s look great but its always good to see factory clean bimmers.
That is gorgeous... I wish I had had more time in London, especially now. I'm sure I could see all manner of cars that I wouldn't get to in the States. (At least I got to see my first Skyline in person, only to move where I am and meet the only guy in the vicinity to own an R34.) The 2002 especially is a car I didn't get at first, but now I love them.
Old reconditioned cars are always a absolute delight to watch. Usually u see the parked rusted somewhere or broken in half, so when u get to see one such as this one in such a clean condition, the thought "wow, this is actually a very very beautiful car!". And u get to be able to maybe feel the same feelings like those in the car's respective era felt. A sort of a back in time experience. I really love the feeling.
Awesome car, awesome post!
Keep it coming and keep up the good work SH!!!
only seen one infront of me for my whole life!
You know why he/she drives that car? Because it's cool. Most of the cars on this site are only cool to us - car people - but a beautiful 2002 like that has universal cool appeal.
I hope you left a Speedhunters business card or something under the wiper so the owner can see his car in the spotlight.
I've got a 70 just like it with 19k original miles on it. I entered it in a concours and was amazed by the reaction of the crowd. People were just delighted to see it; I owned a 70 in Atlantikblau back in the day and the car had then and has now a strange cache. More handsome than pretty.
Just a PS question, how did you edit the plates to be reflective like that?
wow, absolutely stunning! what a great car, my mother had a yellow 4 door 2002 in her earlier days and she loved it. i would love to own one, but they are pretty rare these days. the owner must be proud!
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What a fantastic example! I am in the process of restoring a 1973 2002 Tii and will be delighted if I could get this sort of finish on my car!