Continuing my random survey of CCs in a six-block radius of home, here’s an old favorite. This green 2002 has been living in the drive way of a house two blocks away for as long as I can remember. And it gets driven, as I see it on the streets and this day it was parked curbside. But despite living in the open, its condition has not deteriorated inall thta time. Someone takes care of their baby.
This fine example of an earlier 2002 with the small bumpers and round tail lights does sport later 3 Series alloys, a very appropriate and fine looking upgrade. What more can I say about this light and airy little box, that I haven’t already said in my CC of a 2002Tii? Maybe you have something to add.
I’ll probably get flamed for this but I’ve never really liked the BMW 1600/2002 styling. Impressive glass area but too tall, too top-heavy, and too stubby lengthwise. The 2002 probably deserves its landmark car status but must it look so much like a Triumph Herald?
Don’t think you’ll get flamed, maybe disagreed with. We don’t usually do flaming around here which is one of the nice things about CC.
Your point does get me thinking that maybe the Triumph Herald could have used a little hoffmeister kink in the C pillar, and some bigger wheel openings with larger rubber. That and lose the tailfins, it could have been a bit more handsome..
I agree…. It’s styling is (as the”kids”) say: Meh… Speaking of kids These (to me) look like a 7 Yr old tried to draw a 1st generation Corvair. I’ll take the ‘Vair…
Funny I never thought of these cars together, but the answer must be that Giovanni Michelotti has principal design credit for both.
I would agree with you so far as to say that the Bertone-plus-Corvair look of BMW’s larger 1960s coupes (3000CS, 2000C/CS, E9) is nicer than the 2002. In my lottery garage I’d probably have a 2002 and an E9 both, the 2002 more for the experience inside than the looks outside.
Michelotti’s design credit is in dispute. Undoubtedly he worked on it, under direction of BMW styling chief Wilhelm Hofmeister. But Georg Bertram, who worked with Michelotti on the 1602 (later 2002) is credited with the first drawing of what became that car.
As is commonly the case, the more famous designer (Michelotti) claims the credit. And exactly how they all worked together is of course lost in the mists of time.
Naah… it’s the other way round. The Herald resembles a BMW. Namely the BMW 700. This is no coincidence because both stem from the same italian designer – Giovanni Michelotti.
(Italy is just a stone’s throw away from Bavaria. People often forget that. Italians working for german industry are still commonplace)
Well, the 700 and Herald both appeared in 1959, so it’s debatable.
Actually, the Herald was released first by a matter of months. It was first sold in April 1959. The BMW 700 was released in August 1959.
With those criticisms, you aren’t wrong. Still, I like these things. Every now and again you’ll see one here in the Portland area and the sheer simplicity of the design comes off as very attractive. Maybe its also knowing that these cars attract true BMW enthusiasts, long before they became a yuppie status symbol.
Well, it needed to be shorter than the four-door cars, and good head room and visibility were a big deal at the time. For that matter, in Europe in the mid 60s there was a design fad to make greenhouses really big in relation to the lower body.
As in this Fiat 125 Executive, and others:
The thing about the 1600/2002 was never really about the styling, although it was sort of attractive in a functional way.
It was always about the performance, the handling and the engine. And the build quality and quality of materials was pretty good for the time, too.
Very sweet little things to drive, but I don’t think they’re lovely lookers either. The Corvair, as I learnt right here on CC, is a very low car which forms a lot of its allure. The very rare 2002 full convertibles don’t have the Noddy car top half with their roofs down, and look much nicer. Come to think of it, the Herald looks good without it’s ill-fitting telephone box on top too.
The herald roof unbolts two above the windscreen and three across the back, not so the BMW you have to buy the real thing
I seem to recall reading an article critical of the Triumph Herald’s handling that read, “Hark, the Herald axles swing!”
Ha ha ha! Line of the day! ?
Absolutely stunning! BMW in its purest form.
+1, Amen…. I had three of them over the years…. my heart flutters every time I see one. So easy to work on and repair.
I love the 2002, and still see them out on rare occasions.
I kind of agree with tonyola that there is something a little kludgy about the proportions, but there is also something so light and refreshing about those lines. Ze sports car done ze conservative German way (which is a good thing!).
A stupendous color that’s sadly missing from today’s automotive palette.
I cant say I miss these bluish hunter greens. At first I liked them in the early 90’s…but then overnight it seemed like EVERY Dodge Ram, Jeep Wrangler or Grand Cherokee, Ford Explorer, Mustang, C/K series etc etc was in some shade of forest green. It got played out REAL quick. Worse yet as a Jeep fan was that fraternity row was loaded with tan over green Wrangler Rio Grandes. I could have bought my buddy’s ’95 for a decent price but I couldn’t stomach that color combo. Probably because I wouldn’t have been caught dead in the frat boy khaki’s/polo look that went with it. BLECH.
Looking at a parking lot of greyscale though…maybe its not so bad.
While not yet all that rare, being parked curbside overnight day after day, year after year for one in good or better condition IS quite rare. A very nice find that harkens back to a simpler, more mission-focused time for its manufacturer.
Those darker greens that the Germans favor (Ghias, BMWs and my favorite, the Porsches, for example) are the best dang colors I’ve ever seen on vehicles!
Even better when combined with tan interiors.
+1
The BMW 2002 is famous for its sporty, visceral feel, its practicality, and its good looks. But what really struck me when finally got to drive one of these is . . . . . I can *see* out of this thing! The outward visibility in the 2002 is so vastly superior to that in any modern car. Though I’d rather be a recent car if it were unfortunate enough to roll over….
As I’ve posted before, I had a 1973 model (also the round taillight style) for all of two years. I bought it second-hand in Halifax NS the summer after graduating from university, drove it across Canada to Vancouver that fall, and traded it for a new VW Scirocco in 1981. I would have gladly kept it longer but the body was disintegrating already when I bought it. By 1981 the gas tank could be filled only halfway, and the spare tire well in the trunk was virtually gone.
Why possessed me to buy it? I can’t remember exactly. Even as a rusty second-hander, it was not a cheap car. There were very few BMW’s in Halifax at the time, and I don’t think it was something I’d lusted after for a long time. I knew something about their reputation of course, and I had a history of infatuation with ‘northern European’ products (2 Volvo 544’s and a VW window van).
I can relate to the less-than-impressed comments about its styling. It was always arguably short, and stubby looking, and the Corvair motif was pretty outdated by the late 1970’s. The exterior appearance was not a great selling point to me, at least initially.
Once you got inside however, perceptions changed. The interior was restrained, in typical Germanic fashion, and it was clear you were sitting in a ‘serious’ car. Everything was well made, well detailed, thoughtfully designed, and comfortable – a different world from most domestic product of the time. The overly large greenhouse turned out to provide amazing visibility. And then there was the legendary BMW engine (engine sound has alway been high on my checklist in car appreciation), a great short-throw stick shift, and a combination of handling and comfort that made all day drives on 2 line highways at 70 mph a joy. It was a muscly little growler when you wanted it, but could also carry you in comfort like a car twice its size if you drove it conservatively.
By the time I’d had it for a month I was convinced it was perhaps the most perfect car on the road, and even the exterior styling started to communicate character instead of oddness. The greenhouse to me now is classically beautiful.
Things often seem better in memory of course, but it’s an automotive love affair I don’t regret.
Nice driver’s eye video of a 2002 on the road. Listen to that engine.
A fine car in all respects. I love the look, it was different when introduced and it has aged well. I always thought that there was a little Glas in the 02 series styling.
Save or the Bangle years (Z8 notwithstanding), has BMW ever made a bad looking car?
Paul,
Just curious – is that green 2002 for sale, or do you know if the owner is going to sell it within the next couple months or so?
No, and no. I very much doubt it will be for sale in a very long time.