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Profile BMW 2002

A BMW 2002 in a colour that typified
the 1970s – Inca orange – and sporting BMW 2002
a striking array of extra headlamps.
No. of units 339,092 (1968 – 1975)

Original price 8,400 marks

Engine four-cylinder in-line

Capacity 1,990 cc

Bore x stroke 89 x 80 mm
Output 100 bhp at 5,500 rpm

Transmission four or five-speed stick shift
Management was initially somewhat front: disc brakes
hesitant, but in the end sales director Bremsen rear: drum brakes
Paul Hahnemann once again managed
to persuade the men on BMW’s execu- Weight 940 kg
tive floor that such a car could not fail to
succeed. He was to be proved right. Top speed 170 km/h
It wasn’t only the German and
European markets that were interested
in and ready for a fast compact model of
this kind; above all the now buoyant US
market could undoubtedly be enlarged
with this model, since the fastest two-
door car until then, the 1600 TI, could BMW came up with the model name
not be exported to the United States on 2002, in which the last digit referred to
account of its unfavourable exhaust the number of doors. It wasn’t long
emission figures. before all model designations in this
Already announced by BMW’s series, with the exception of the con-
press department as a “powerpack”, vertible, ended in a “2”. On account of
the BMW 2002 in no way disappointed its superior performance, the BMW
the great expectations placed in it. The 2002 had no need for ostentation. It
price of the new model, too, was a gen- didn’t even have a script badge on the
uine sensation. Since all its compo- radiator grille, only at the rear. With this
nents had already been tried and tested model, the meaning of “understate-
and were present in BMW’s “construc- ment” took on a new dimension in
tion set”, the 2002 went on sale with a German car manufacturing.
price tag of 8,400 deutschmarks. For In its debut production year, BMW
the same price as a 90 bhp Opel Rekord sold around 29,000 examples of the
1900 S, which took 16 seconds from 2002 model. Up until 1972, that figure
standstill to 100 km/h, sporty BMW fans would steadily rise to almost 60,000
could now acquire a four-seater with a units a year. Around 20 percent of the
larger boot that did the sprint in 10.7 cars went to the USA in an unprece-
seconds flat. It now took a bona fide dented export achievement.
sports car such as a Porsche 911 or a The BMW 2002 as an emblematic
2002 raised to lofty heights. In early Ferrari Dino to leave a BMW 2002 trail- representative of the BMW 02 Series
1967, two BMW 1600 two-door models ing in its wake. proved to be economically fortuitous to
were experimentally given the two-litre Not surprisingly, then, this BMW an unimagined degree. The benefits
engine of the New Class. The “test driv- 2002 became the symbol of an entire, that came as standard with this model,
ers” were no less than engine designer highly diverse model series to which it and above all the phenomenal motor
and racing driver Alexander von eventually gave its name – the 02 sport success story it was about to
Falkenhausen and planning director Series. In order to clearly differentiate embark on, perfectly complemented
Helmut Werner Bönsch, who took great the new two-door model from the still each other to make the BMW 2002 an
The circular tail-lights were one of the most striking details of the 02 Series, which also claimed major successes pleasure in driving the two test models high-selling four-door New Class model object of desire for an entire generation
on the race track. on a day-to-day basis. BMW’s Board of with its two-litre engine, the 2000, of performance-conscious motorists.

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