A Brief History of the 1600-2

BMW's legendary 1600-2 stunned the world when it was first shown in 1966. With its sofisticated but robust chassis, and the 85 bhp 1.6 liter engine from the 1600-4 in the sleek and elegant new 2-door body, it was an instant success. It represented a completely new concept, the compact sports sedan. The car had superb handling, and was outright fun to drive - the slogan 'Freude am Fahren' was born, and the car quickly became the best selling BMW ever.

In the middle of the 1971 model year, the 1600-2 had a major revision, and the designation was changed to 1602. Totally nearly 300,000 units were produced over 10 years, 1966-75.

In September 1967, BMW introduced two more variants of the 1600-2: The 1600ti, and the 1600 Cabriolet. The ti had two twin-barrel Solex sidedraft carbs, resulting in 105 bhp at 6000 rpm. It was equipped with a front anti-roll bar, wider rims, and larger brakes. A nice sports sedan, that was well received by the press and the audience. However, there were some problems: the Solex carburetor setup was expensive and needed frequent tune-ups, the fuel economy was not too good, and the engine needed high revs to show its best. And, worst of all, it didn't pass the federal US emission tests.

To overcome these problems, and to satisfy the performance-seeking US market, BMW looked for an alternate solution. It was found within the current product line: The 2-liter 100 bhp engine from the 2000 model. This engine was robust and reliable, had a powerful low-end torque and complied to the US emission laws. The 2000 engine was transplanted into the 1600-2 body, and the BMW 2002 was born. It was introduced early 1968, and only a few months later the 1600-2ti was discontinued.

The Cabriolet was a limited-series special, only 1,682 were built 1968-71.
BMW shipped empty bodies to Karrosserie Baur in Stuttgart, where they were reinforced, converted and equipped with the cabrio-unique parts. The cars were then shipped back to BMW in München for final assembly. Although the body was almost unchanged in appearance (except of course for the missing roof), it had a lot of modifications. Reiforcements in the kicker panels, box sections at the firewall, under the front and rear seats and in the area where the top folds down were some of the invisible items. More obvious were a different windscreen, different triangular windows on the doors, different seats and upholstery, and of course the foldable soft top.

In 1971 another member of the 02 family, the 1802, was introduced. Its 1.8 liter engine produced 90 bhp (only 5 more than the 1602, but it had much better low-end torque). Some 87,000 were produced before the 1802 was discontinued in 1975.