Small car with a powerful engine and handling prowess that was hard to match
Words: Paranjay Dutt
Photos: BMW
The BMW 02 Series didn’t win fans for no reason. It was the car that democratised fun motoring without any real caveats. Its decade-long run established BMW’s firm presence in the sports-saloon space and carved a great segue to the 3 Series. But it wasn’t just good looks and success in the domestic market that helped the 02 Series earn a respectable spot in the history books. This was in fact the car that made BMW a formidable automotive company across the pond. Without the 02 Series, especially the 2002, the car landscape would’ve looked a lot different. In the part II of our feature dedicated to the tiny (only in footprint, mind) BMW, we look at how it reached the heart and drive of keen enthusiasts nearly six decades ago.
I say nearly six, because while you must have read that BMW brought out the first of the 02 Series in 1966 in the Part I of the story, the car’s US success faced a slight delay. The 1600-2’s 1.6-litre engine, shared with the Neue Klasse saloon, was powerful enough to propel the new two-door saloon, but the noticeable jump in sales happened about two years later, with the introduction of the 2002. The larger 2-litre engine seemed like a logical upgrade, especially with it matching the 1600 TI’s power output without needing additional paperwork — as the larger engine was already homologated for the US market. With the 2002’s arrival in 1968, sales picked up exponentially — and the sport saloon market never looked the same. While it wouldn’t match other American cars in terms of outright power (despite the power increment over the 1600-2), the 2002 proved to be a better package overall, thanks to the well-sorted ride and handling balance, efficient braking, and supreme cornering capabilities.
It didn’t take prospective customers long to realise that the 02 Series wasn’t just better than the run-of-the-mill options on the market but European ones, too. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that multiple commentators noted the Teutonic engineering advantage over even undoubtedly enjoyable machines from the likes of MG and Triumph, and Alfa Romeo. In a way, the 2002 offered endless driving fun without its owner having to worry about reliability woes. Now you see how BMW managed to shift well over 800,000 examples of the 02 Series globally.
The 02 Series managed to get the US hooked on to BMWs. BMW cars were still imported/represented by Max Hoffman’s firm in the US, and the 02 gave them a much-needed second chance to prove the firm’s ability to import, sell, and service BMWs. Needless to say, the car took the market by storm, and buyers who would have otherwise swayed towards small and fun cars from Europe were left with no option but to take the new BMW seriously.
From behind the wheel, the BMW 02 Series was reported to be light but sharp, the 100hp engine of the 2002 offering just about enough poke to keep up with traffic, and then “smoke ’em” as soon as the road became curvy. The Bertram design worked quite well, and even with a surfboard mounted atop, the 02 wouldn’t look out of shape. If anything it complemented the cool look of the car. The US-market bumpers might’ve not been as good-looking as the Euro counterparts and the later larger taillights wouldn’t have got as much love as the earlier round units, but on the whole, the 02 Series never went unappreciated.
In the engines department, the inline-four M10 engine might not have been as glamorous as a V8 (or a straight-six), but it was appreciated not just for its power delivery but also overall refinement. The manual gearbox heightened driver interaction, and with the option to choose an automatic (on certain models), there was nothing quite stopping the discerning customer from making the 02 Series their daily. It’s also this duality that furthered the car’s intrinsic appeal: from canyon carving to making a trip to the beach, from tackling unending commutes to work to being the weekend toy, the car could — and would — do it all.
The BMW 02 Series proved to be easy to live with, both in terms of space and comfort. The suspension setup was made with a clear intent to make it stable but it wouldn’t falter as road quality varied. And the glasshouse? With stricter regulations and emphasis on safety, no modern car manufacturer will ever have the liberty to design something like this, but back in the 60s, you could buy a car that, despite its small footprint, didn’t feel claustrophobic. The 02 Series’s wonderfully airy cabin continues to resonate well with its fans and owners.
The subsequent arrival of models like the 2002 Tii and the 2002 Turbo showed the car’s true potential, but that’s only half of the story. Soon, engine swaps became common, upgraded suspension and brakes were the norm, and lightweight-ing was on everyone’s mind. The base formula never changed, though: the 02 Series was a small car with a powerful engine and handling prowess that was hard to match. The 2002 made driving fun, especially in markets like the US where there was a dearth of small cars.
Its popularity was capitalised as other cars grew more complicated but not the 02 Series. This BMW’s craze has now reached a point where you can run it as a cherished classic, soup it up slightly with engine and chassis upgrades to enjoy its dynamic abilities without having to compromise everyday liveability, or go for the full Monty by turning it into an extremely focussed, track-ready example. It just drives the point home that BMW knew what they were doing with the car. Pretty much what we’ve seen with Alfas, especially with the likes of Alfaholics, turning them into extremely capable machines, it’s safe to say that the 02 Series has attracted the right audience.
Read part one of this two-part feature on the BMW 02 Series, here.
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