For the last 19 years, JP Collins has been hosting the annual Bay Area 02 Swap & Show throughout numerous venues around the San Francisco Bay Area.

His initial intent was to provide an opportunity for like-minded Neue Klasse enthusiasts to show off their cars, trade some parts, and ultimately enjoy a beautiful summer day by the water.

Although my schedule was slammed that Saturday morning, I still made it a point to get to the show before it ended later in the afternoon. Sadly, this meant that I wasn’t able to get a whole lot of the ‘swap’ action going on.

Regardless, I figured I’d still share some of the variety that attended anyways. After all, this is one of the more ‘chill’ events that takes place around here, so sit back and enjoy some photos…

The Bay Area 02 Swap & Show is obviously targeted towards vintage BMW 2002 owners, but that’s not to say that other Bimmer enthusiasts didn’t show up.

While making my way towards the show’s main area, I stumbled across various interesting non-BMWs and newer BMWs scattered throughout the parking lot, including a few friends who will be getting their stories told on the site in the near future.

A pair of Alfa Romeos even showed up, and though I wished they were parked closer together to get their differences in one shot, they managed to remain quite subtle amongst the rest of the Neue Klasse.

Which makes me think – what if the GTV was indeed made by the boys at Munich? Hmm…

Moving on, the grassy fields of the Brisbane Marina were quite overwhelmed with the turnout that day. Everything from old 1600s to Bavarias and E9s, and even some Tourings showed up. But even so, there was still such a homey-like vibe in the atmosphere. People came out with their families, their pets, good beer, and picnicked all day long whilst basking in the ambiance.

I made a few strolls through the lines of cars and people, and made sure to get some photos of some familiar Speedhunters natives as well.

Earlier I noted that I wasn’t around for a whole lot of ‘swapping’ taking place, but I did manage to get a few looks at some of the items that attendees were cleaning up and packing prior to leaving the show.

I even came across my buddy Scott, who managed to score an awesome vintage BMW Motorsport Italvolanti steering wheel earlier in the day. If you can’t tell, he was rather stoked, and for good reason. Those wheels are quite rare, and I think he scored it for a ‘steal’ price. He and I love to geek out over old parts like this.

Whether it was catching up with friends, enjoying a cold one, or geeking out over old cars and old parts, the Bay Area 02 Swap & Show delivered once again.

I’ll make it a point to try and get there early enough next year to hone in on more vintage pieces being offered, but to hold you over, we’ll be covering Legends of the Autobahn next month, so stay tuned for that.

Naveed Yousufzai
Instagram: eatwithnaveed