By Jeff Glucker
I am no BMW fan. The modern stuff is a massive turnoff. There are moments of brilliance in the brand’s history of course. In fact, one of my favorite driving experiences happened behind the wheel of a BMW. This was a 2002 restored and modified by Clarion for its Clarion Builds program. Interestingly, that blue car has a sister car… and this gorgeous Chamonix White 2002 is for sale on Bring-A-Trailer.
The car here is a 1975 BMW 2002 that was fully restored back in 2018. And it’s been well cared for since, so the paint is perfect, the interior is flawless, and I will (safely) assume it’s a joy to drive. The great thing here too is that Clarion never went overboard on its Build cars with respect to the stereo stuff. It was always tastefully done while still being impactful towards the goal or vision of the overall build.
Really though the magical bit is that 2.0-liter M110 mill under the hood. You could eat off this one. And here it’s been mildly and smartly upgraded with replaced internals, an upgraded cam, electric fuel pump and fan, and then it all shouts through a stainless exhaust.
This one won’t be cheap. But it’s also one of the nicest BMW 2002s you’re likely to find.
Square tail lights are a non-starter for me. Also BMW.
I don’t care for newer BMWs, but older ones check the right boxes for me– especially the Neue Klasse designs. I’d love to have a late-60s 1800 sedan.
As for tail lamps, I’ll take square over a roundie any day, though I prefer the grilles and bumpers from ’73 and older ones.
Maybe I just associate the square tail lights with post-SMOG cars, which can be a pain in the butt to keep registered here in California.
Also, the U.S. was pretty much hazing the poor little imports of the day with these embarrassing bumpers.
True Fact: When the bicycle factory I worked in started a painting department, they practiced on my classic Schwinn Typhoon by painting it this color blue. (At least, it was listed in the PPG swatch book as a BMW model 2002 color.)
Well you’re picky.
Interesting that you would mention the silver-blue Clarion 2002, because that video review was my first exposure to Hooniverse. I absolutely loved that build.
Around 20 years ago I looked at a really nice 73/74 2002 in orange, I think it might have even been 1-owner. $7500 from memory…
I should note that we didn’t have 2002s with impact bumpers or smog-strangled engines, the orange one I looked at had square tail lights and the other minor cosmetic changes like the grille but otherwise no detriment against the earlier roundie.
At the same time there was a 3.0 Si manual sedan that was tempting too (among other cars) but my sensible gland kicked in and I didn’t buy a 25+ year old European car as my only transport with nowhere to work on it.
buddy just got an E12 528. I checked out an 02 with him before and honestly I think I prefer the 5. but they were both a blast to ride around in. the 2002 is so cute.