Page 69 - Wayne Carini's Guide to Affordable Classics

THE BACKSTORY
The winter of 1959 in Munich was an especially difficult one, at least inside BMW’s executive offices, where it had become painfully clear that the company’s postwar portfolio just wasn’t meeting expectations. At one extreme were the costly duo of the doughy Barockengel 501 sedan and its far sexier companion, the 507 roadster. At the opposite end of the spectrum were the charming little Isetta and 600, licensed from Iso in Milan, which, despite brisk sales to a recovering Germany, could never replenish the financial void created by the losses incurred from the top-of-the- range cars. Adding further frustration was the recently launched Mercedes W111 Heckflosse that further confirmed (if that was necessary) that the hallowed Swabian marque remained the dominant premium brand amongst European automakers.
BMW 1600/2002
gap in the middle of the portfolio – after all, even stodgy Borgward had launched the modern Isabella by the mid-1950s.
Saved by the 1500
What BMW needed was that respectable middle-class saloon that nearly everyone seemed to have by the end of the 1950s. It arrived, just in time, at the 1961 Frankfurt Motor Show. While its recipe of unibody construction, 1.5-liter, 80-horsepower SOHC four-cylinder engine and MacPherson strut/trailing arm suspension might seem humble today, the simply named “1500” was a solid and visually fresh offering that quickly drew strong demand from consumers, despite a delay-filled path to production. It was, wrote BMW historian Halwart Schrader, “clearly what the Opels and Fords were not: a technically sophisticated car with a prestigious name.”
With nothing in its arsenal to cater to an aspirational middle class,
BMW transformed the 600 into something a bit less primitive –
the 700. Though based on the 600’s rear-engined mechanicals, the
smart, Michelotti-designed sedan, coupe and convertible looked
more like “real” cars rather than slightly larger microcars. But
BMW’s lingering financial issues left its bankers unwilling to
sit through the 700’s gestation for actual sales to start generating
revenue, hence the growing C-suite anxiety. In addition to its
restive lenders, BMW’s dealers were anxious about the lingering the 1500, but seemed even better proportioned. Its mechanical
For the moment, that was enough. In a bid to distinguish itself from its more sober southwestern competitor, BMW cleverly launched the 1500 under the Neue Klasse or “New Class” banner, signaling that other entries were likely to follow. After the launch of the handsome 2000CS coupe, BMW lowered the New Class’s admission price with the 1600-2, denoting its 1.6-liter engine and two-door configuration. Its appearance was clearly derived from
Though derived from the diminutive 600, the handsome, Michelotti-designed 700 was BMW’s lifeline until the 1500 sedan was introduced.
Wayne Carini  Affordable Classics  67