Popularity of 2002's across the US

[Kostenfalle]

I was having a discussion with my brother the other day about the 02. He said a buddy of his told him that they were not very common in the East Tennessee area, and I agree. Atlanta, which is not too far from here, seems not to have many either. 

 

So, taking a huge paint brush to make a general statement, where does the epicenter of 2002 lust in the US lay? I am getting the feeling that it is California. 

 

Thoughts?

[jscaptura1]

Certainly NOT in upstate NY, very rarely, if ever, do I see another in the Finger Lakes Region.  There are a few, but not many left in the salt capitol of the world!

[Danz3]

I moved from upstate NY and agree. So now one less there. I'm in Pittsburgh now and there are only a few in the area. I don't think it's a popularity thing it's just that most "local" cars have simply rusted away.

[saaron]

I think the answer lies in two factors:

 

>In the late '60s and early '70s, when these were new, where were they bought?  On the coasts, I think is the answer.  Specifically the NE and California.  A higher percent of the US pop lived in these regions then, and certainly the consumers interested in weird foreign cars were probably concentrated on the coasts.  The distribution follows population.  If you are opening a dealership, you go where the people are.  40 years ago, it was during, or slightly before, the mass exodus to the sunbelt that has given us 30 years of "the fastest growing states" being all in the sunbelt.  For perspective, in 1970, Florida's population was 6.8 million.  It is 20 million now!  Net, in 1970, a big percentage of the dealers and cars were in the Northeast, Bay Area, and LA, I would say.  

 

>Where could the cars survive - less in the Northeast, if they were used as dailys.  But Bay Area and LA could have a high percentage of survivors.  Think about it - you actually see used 02s for sale on CL in California.  That almost never happens here in the midwest, and if it does, a high percentage of the time the cars are not in very good condition - they are former dailys that are rusted out.  

 

So to me, that nets out that the highest percentage of 02s are probably living in California.  

 

I feel like we have a lot of them in Ohio/Indy/Ky area, but if I add them up, it is probably half the number that one county in LA probably has.  

 

That's just my theory, FWIW.  

 

Scott

Edited May 12, 2017 by saaron

[zinz]

13 minutes ago, saaron said:

Where could the cars survive

yep...

 

We have a healthy 2002 population in the Austin area, but a good many of them are transplants (the supposed history of my '71 was told as an Arizona car, went to Wichita, Kansas, then Austin... who really knows?)  Our monthly gathering seems to bring at least one "new" car to the group every couple of months.  Some are bought out of state, but we still have local '02s pop out of the woodwork.  I know of least 6 that don't make our local events; which usually draws 12-20 cars.  

 

Ed

[69NEWCLASSNH]

Pretty popular in New England - not surprising to see every once in a while.

[RAS-2002]

Even though we had a fair number of BMW dealers in the Tri-State area (NY/NJ/CT) in the early 70s, seeing another 1600/2002 on the road was cause for blinking your lights, waving, and even stopping to "talk BMW" with the other driver. When I was 21, I had scrimped and saved enough to buy my first 2002 (a new '73 Sahara) in Dec '72. I soon discovered that owning it gave you automatic 'membership' in an unofficial 'club'. Not a bunch of elitists, by any means. Just a common camaraderie of people passionate about their '02s. Those were the days when they were just cool cars, not yet yuppy mobiles (now I know where FAQ member PREYUPPY gets his moniker!). They out-performed damn near everything else, especially on the twisty-turny roads of Rockland County, where I grew up. Brit sports cars (MGs, TRs, Sunbeams, Healeys) just couldn't keep up, and American iron didn't stand a chance. Commonly heard question after they'd catch up to me was: "Hey, what kind of car IS that?" I'd repeat what was told to me the fist time I rode in one, a new 2002 'way back in '68: "It's a German car, a BMW: stands for Barbarian Motor Works"  I still say that at car shows, always garners a laugh. And at these car shows, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE!, now says one of two things: either "I used to have one of those" or "My neighbor used to have one of those."  So it seems like EVERYONE had one or knew someone who did!

 

And now, here we are in 2017, and history is repeating itself: once again, the uber-rare occurrence of seeing another 1600/2002 on the road today is once again cause for blinking your lights, waving, and stopping to "talk BMW" with the other driver. What's really cool is that I'm now seeing some younger drivers falling in love with these great little cars. And that's what we need; new blood; a new generation to keep these wonderful cars on the road as us Olde Phartz start to fade away.

 

And speaking of Olde Phartz; I'm 21 years old again whenever I get behind the wheel... The fun never ends.

-Bob

[BarneyT]

I seem to remember reading years ago that there were more sold on CA. than in all of Europe, my memory is not all that good but I remember at the time thinking that was amazing...

[PaulTWinterton]

California for sure, and I would hazard a guess that SF over LA for popularity back in the day.  Visiting both cities in the 80s, I remember seeing lots of 02s in the Bay Area and not so many in LA.   Portland and Seattle were also popular areas.

[carpediem]

2002s are pretty popular in the automotive press.  One of my favorite pastimes when I receive a new car magazine is to note how many pages before there is a picture or mention of a 2002.  It happens with incredible regularity.

[saaron]

1 hour ago, barney t said:

I seem to remember reading years ago that there were more sold on CA. than in all of Europe, my memory is not all that good but I remember at the time thinking that was amazing...

 

That certainly seems possible.  Since my car is the euro version, I've learned some interesting things in terms of production numbers and survival factors.  

>BMW made more tiis for non-USA than for the USA.  From memory, the euro '72-'73s alone were 19,000, which is way more than the entire USA tii total for three years, and over 50% of the total tii production.    

>But, because most of them were sold in Northern Europe / Germany, they were exposed to bad weather, and they lived in countries that had pretty strict standards in terms of inspections and such.  I guess when you have roads where people can drive as fast as they want, it makes you want to check their car out periodically.  So just anecdotally, it is possible that more tiis survive in the US than Europe, even though production for the USA was lower.  Not as many states had "take it off the road" super-strict inspections, and tiis sold in the non-salt states had a fighting chance.  

 

I say anecdotally because I've talked to people that lived in Germany and they have said you rarely see an older car because of the inspection process.  I've worked with a few German people, and showed them my car, and they all say "I haven't seen one of those in 25 years...I can't believe you have such a thing."  It becomes too expensive to keep something older operable.  Also, it appears that there are few 02s and tiis for sale in Europe compared to here, today.  This is all qualitative info, so I take it with a grain of salt.  

 

And I think California is the prime market that helped the cars survival today - probably a lot sold there, and they could survive - higher survival rate.  So it might be true that there are more tiis alive in Cali today than in all of Europe!

 

Scott

[TobyB]

Port cities, for sure.  Seattle/Tacoma got lots of imports.

 

Rich areas- Western NY doesn't have the same number of commas in the income column that the Shitty does.

 

Rust-  A good friend in college in PA in the way back years bought a 73tii- she didn't get much in the way of rocker panels, even back then.

 

College towns- see income, above, habits, below...

 

Traffic- see LA pictures in Dread Thread for ways to compress a 2002 into the length of a Smarts, doesn't it? car.

 

Habits- watching Stranger Things, they show an E30 in 1984 (with CHMSL, so fail) in Indiana.  Not so much- it takes a while for us rural folk to get used to new ideas.

 

blabitty blab blab blab.

 

t

 

 

 

[Doug Riparetti]

Within a 5-mile drive from my house, there are (9) 02's.

 

In our "Monterey Bay Area 02's" group, we have 20 cars, and growing.

[JerryC]

3 hours ago, saaron said:

And I think California is the prime market that helped the cars survival today - probably a lot sold there, and they could survive - higher survival rate.  So it might be true that there are more tiis alive in Cali today than in all of Europe!

 

Scott

High initial population, high survival rate, and no structural inspections. That last part seems a bit odd for a state with above average government regulation of most everything else, but Californians love their automobiles.

[ray_]

This may, or may not shed some light.

 

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/membermap/

 

I didn't know about the tii in a shed 7 miles from me here, though ;-)

 

... until I knew about it.

 

;-)