Ah, fancy internet car auction sites. Purveyors of poster cars from years and decades past, their wares frequently exceed the budget of the modest enthusiast, but it’s fun to dream. However, every so often, even Bring A Trailer serves up a dirt-cheap car, and here’s one of them. This 1967 BMW 1600-2 recently sold on Bring A Trailer for $850. Yes, $850. Now that’s properly cheap, although it’s not terribly hard to see why this thing went for three figures.
Back in the 1960s, BMW was in a rebuilding period. Having stayed afloat thanks in part to the Michelotti-penned rear-engined 700 compact car, the brand needed a path to financial stability and fast. Cue the Neue Klasse sedan, a handsome executive car that could be stretched, shrunk, and manipulated into a full lineup of vehicles, much like the platforms we see today. Soon, the sedan spawned a coupe, and shortly after that, it was cut down a size class to make the 02-series.
While Americans are mostly familiar with the BMW 2002, a two-liter version of this two-door sedan, it all started with the 1600-2, unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. Under the hood sat a 1.6-liter M10 four-cylinder engine with 84 horsepower and 96 lb.-ft. of torque, but in a lightweight, remarkably well-built bodyshell, it was still a solid enthusiast car.
Mind you, the M10 in this 1600-2 hasn’t run in what is likely ages. In fact, the listing states that it won’t even turn over, so this certainly isn’t a running, driving car by any means. Come to think of it, not turning over could even mean that the engine’s seized, which means this Bimmer might be in need of a heart transplant.
Then again, even if this thing did run, you wouldn’t want to sit in its interior for very long. I’ve seen cracked dashboards before, but this one has fault lines and is crumbling like the ruins of Rome. At the same time, the upholstery is thoroughly wrecked, with old-school hair-based padding and wire springs showing. Even the gauge cluster is broken, an impressive feat of decay that really emphasizes this car’s farm find history.
Oh, and speaking of decay, take a good look at the floorboards. That amount of rust and crust is rather advanced, meaning whoever bought this BMW 1600-2 has a lot of welding ahead of them. Granted, most of the body bits you can see from the outside look reasonably nice, but the hidden nasties are certainly present.
The rear window channel is perhaps of the most serious concern because the glass is actually meant to slot into it, then lock into place using trim. If this area isn’t perfect, water can leak in, ruining all sorts of hard work. This isn’t a great project for someone just learning how to weld, as window channels require some serious fabrication skills to get right.
Even assuming everything gets done well and proper, there might be a little bit of weirdness going on with the title that someone will need to deal with. See, this BMW 1600-2 is a 1967 model according to the auction listing, but the Bring A Trailer auction claims the title for the vehicle reports it’s a 1969 model. Very odd.
This BMW 1600-2 might have only hammered for $850, but it’s also one hell of a project. Hey, it definitely lives up to Bring A Trailer’s name. While it’ll take thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to get this thing back to a driving state, these early 1600-2s are absolutely lovely cars, and it might just be worth it in the end. So, best of luck to the new owner. This thing’s going to be incredible once it’s finished.
(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer)
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I read this article just to feel what it felt like to daydream about buying projects on old BaT again. I’ve missed it.
Does someone make a fiberglass or carbon repro body for these? I know it’s a thing now in the muscle car space for some select popular models and you essentially buy a rusted out hulk to get the VIN.
I think I can explain the title discrepancy! From my days of dealing with LBCs, back in the day sometimes imported cars were issued a title showing the year they were sold, not the actal model year of the car. Going by the body or comm number, most spitfires I owned were 1 to 2 years older than the title showed. I could easily see a diminutive German car sitting on the showroom floor for a couple of years in the muscle car heyday.
This car appears to be ahead of it’s time. Looks like a primitive hybrid system under the hood. Is that a hamster-wheel setup next to the 1600 to augment the 84 horses?
It looks like there’s even a HGR (hamster-gas-recovery) hose from that wheel to the intake manifold for emission control, too.
those rotten seats serve as an auxiliary fuel supply for the rodent motor too.
I’d love to have a 2002 EV conversion… they seem like the perfect car for driving around town & short highway hops. Wouldn’t need a huge battery and drivetrain, maybe something from a eGolf or similar. Convert me one of those RDJ!
My buddy in IL bought one in CA and brought it back and LOVES it!
More like thousands of hours of repair. And I don’t know if it’s just that the hood isn’t closed or if it’s actually sagging at the A-pillar?
LMAO gotta run her through some speed bumps to find out sagging apillar sure
An $850 car in my local area is 75% rust, 99% dents, and has no glass except for the shattered bits strewn throughout the interior.
I grew up riding in my dad’s 2002 and still have a love for those little BMWs. The 1600-2 isn’t quite as iconic as the 2002, but if I saw this near me for $850, I’d be in my garage right this moment admiring my new project BMW while listening to my wife’s screams of rage about yet another project vehicle clogging up the driveway and garage.
“listening to my wife’s screams of rage about yet another project vehicle clogging up the driveway and garage.”
You are the wind beneath my wings
Despite all the wifes rage I’d like this BaT in my cage.
Finally, a BaT auction worth looking at.
Along this vein, I’ve got a 93 Chevy Cheyenne that I could let go for 14,000. Runs, too.
Glad to see BaT going back to the original ethos and you truly need to bring a trailer.
Hey, I’m sure plenty of the exotics get put on trailers too, but that is because they live a sad life where they are rarely used.
Bring A Trailer Queen
A certain writer for this site is into small BMWs now and also quite fond of rust and keeps talking about EV swaps. I think we’ve found his next project.
Hey DT!! Since you’re having such trouble unloading your i3, maybe send it over to BaT? As something of an internet car celebrity, that might generate some interest. I mean, you WERE featured in the NYT Syle section.
For a website called bring a trailer you would think it would have been filled with dilapidated hoopties like this. Not over priced garage queens.
In the early days, pre-auctions, it was like that. I miss it, but they clearly have moved where the money is. Now you need a trailer because you would not dare drive it for fear of ruining it
My grandmother bought one of these after driving Kharmann Ghias for years. I’d hoped it would still be around when I was old enough to drive, but she retired and quit driving and sold the BMW to a coworker the year before. Missed it by that much.
High and low rot. Probably spent time near salt water. I worked on many of those in the ’80s, never saw one with a generator.
50 bucks says this becomes a parts donor car for some other 1600
Agreed. There is no other reason to buy something that far gone unless it was really, really rare. And I remember seeing a few 1600s in the late 60s/early 70s. At the time, I was driving a ’68 Datsun 510. I didn’t realize I had 12 more horses to spur than they did.
Crackpipe.
Yeah definitely, for that kind of money you can get a 25 year old Civic with mismatched body panels and a bad head gasket.
You had me literally laughing out loud with this one! Take your smiley-face, you earned it.
Thank you sir.