Launched in 1966, the BMW 1600 sets the world on its ear. Here is an elegant, compact (2-door) sports sedan with proportions befitting an instant classic, and exquisite detailing belying its diminutive size.
They say the most successful designs are reducible to just a few lines, and one of the most recognizable features of this BMW is its belt-line, running around the car; tapering delicately at each corner, much as did every straight line here. Chrome brightwork makes it more pronounced, lending the car a touch of class befitting its price tag but punching beyond its stature.
The wedge-like front end; tapered rear, and short front/ longer rear overhangs set standards still followed by the 3 series (and its myriad clones) today.
When BMW shoehorns the 2-liter 100-horsepower engine from the 2000 model line into the 1600, the 2002 is born, and the power-hungry U.S. market begins to take note.
David E. Davis Jr., then at
Car and Driver and later Editor of
Automobile, writes,
"to my way of thinking, the 2002 is one of modern civilization's all-time best ways to get somewhere sitting down." Davis praises the car's handling; build quality; gear ratios, and overall feel as though mythical -
"something only the most discerning car buyer would appreciate. "Something between nine and ten million squares will miss out on this neat little 2-door sedan with all the cajones and brio and élan of cars twice its size and four times its price, but some ten thousand keen types will buy them in 1968, so the majority loses for once" (Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World, David Kiley, John Wiley & Sons, 2004).
In the years that follow, the 2002 will see Kugelfischer injection, turning this sporty little car into a pocket rocket (2002 tii). It will be produced in convertible and Touring variants.
There will also be a 2002 Turbo.
The 2002 earns a deserved place in history and, post-Millennium, is increasingly referenced in BMW's literature (in the U.S., in one instance, a mini-campaign appears, titled every 2002 BMW has a little BMW 2002 in it). Up until the post-Millennial Bangle era, the 2002 represents one of the few, albeit significant, times that BMW has led design.