Posible bmw 1800ti/sa?

[Preyupy]

Does the engine number match the chassis?  It is possible someone found a TiSA engine sometime in the last 55 years and installed it.  

[turbobrook@aol.com]

Pedro,

 

The Alpina Dual Weber Kit (Umba in German) was Alpina’s first modification. This was done on the BMW 1500 in 1962-1963. Bovenseipen met with Sales Director Paul Hannemann in the summer of 1963 and after some BMW engineers tested the Alpina kit, they adopted it for production and honored the kit with Factory warranty paying Bovensiepen a royalty for each manifold they employed on their Alpina inspired  1800ti. The BMW TI version used Solex carbs though. 
 

The 1800ti was the sporty upgrade for the now 1600 (Replaced the 1500) and 1800 models. However, the TI was 2000 DM more than the 1800. The Alpina kit was 980 DM installed. Many customers opted to buy the Alpina kits rather than the 1800ti because the performance was parallel and the ride a bit softer. 
 

Most customers had the kits installed at Affiliated dealerships in Europe that sold the kits. However, customers could take their 1800 (or 1800ti) directly to Alpina in Kaufburen to have the kits installed or other option added. During this period many people started racing these modified 1800s on tracks throughout Europe. Alpina continued to offer upgrades to the 1800 like seats, gauges, wheels, head work, transmissions and other performance upgrades for racecar enthusiasts that BMW was not set up for. The 1800 became so popular BMW homologated their own race version called the 1800 TiSA. The TiSA connection to Alpina is unmistakable. 
 

Bovensiepen also purchased cars directly from BMW and modified them. Your car appears to be one of these. It was cheaper for the customer if he was purchasing the car with intent to race it, to buy the 1800ti (because the TiSA required a special license) because it could be ordered with special transmission, final drive and other BMW performance upgrades before going to Alpina. Then Alpina did the high end performance upgrades. 
 

interesting car. 
 

email me if you have other questions 

 

turbobrook@aol.com

 

[Conserv]

On 2/17/2020 at 10:49 PM, Pedro said:

 

... "The VIN you provided belongs to a BMW 1800 TI (not a "TISA") that was manufactured on November 17th, 1965 and delivered on March 14th, 1966 to the BMW dealer Burkard Bovensiepen KG in Kaufbeuren. The original colour was Bristol, paint code 058.
For more info you might ask the archives of Alpina if they have something on the car: classic@alpina.de"

...

 

 

Certainly a very special car!

 

What’s going on in the four months from manufacture to legal delivery to Burkard Bovensiepen? Legal delivery was generally within a week or two of manufacture. I have no evidence, so we can only speculate! ?

Allow me to refer to Burkard Bovensiepen simply as “Alpina” for purposes of this post. Alpina was both a BMW dealer and a tuning shop. I would guess that many (most?) customers choosing to purchase a new BMW through Alpina did so because they wanted Alpina to modify the car, maybe a little, maybe a lot. And legal title to the car passed from BMW AG to Alpina shortly after the manufacturing date. The end-user had already committed to purchase the car from Alpina before it was shipped to Kaufbeuren for modifications.

 

To borrow BMW Group Archives’ response for @coloincaalpine’s Alpina-modified tii:

 

“The BMW 2002 tii US VIN 2760173 was manufactured on December 17th, 1971 and delivered on December 29th, 1971 to the BMW dealer Bovensiepen in Buchloe. The original colour was Verona, paint code 024.”

In the case of this 1800Ti, however, Alpina’s records — sadly deficient — at least reveal that the car arrived in Kaufbeuren in 1965. But legal ownership did not transfer from BMW AG to Alpina, as a BMW dealer, until March 1966. This permits one to speculate that Alpina was originally modifying the car for BMW AG — say for development purposes — until a decision was made to release it to Alpina for its disposition.

 

Unless the legal transfer date to Alpina, March 14, 1966, is just plain wrong, this car spent a long time in either Munich (because it was still owned by BMW AG) or Kaufbeuren (if we accept Alpina’s 1965 arrival date). During those four months, the car was (a.) parked, possible but unlikely, (b.) being driven, under BMW AG’s ownership, or (c.) being modified. I’d vote for (c.): Alpina did some serious modifications to the car before March 14, 1966.

 

So many of these modifications — still present today — are done with correct factory parts that I would guess that they were added during this period, while the car was in Kaufbeuren but still owned by BMW AG.

 

Clearly, much knowledge could be gained by tracing the ownership chain of this car. Do we, at minimum, know in what country the car was first registered?

 

This is not a TiSA, but it’s got a history that may be as interesting as any TiSA!

 

What’s the casting date on the head? Is it in or before March 1966? If not, the head was added later. What are the manufacturing dates on all five steel rims? Again, are they in or before March 1966? If not, the rims, or a rim, was added later. Of course, Alpina’s modifications could have occurred after Alpina took legal delivery on March 14th. But then what was happening while the car sat in Kaufbeuren from 1965 until March 14, 1966?

 

Like I said, a very special car!

 

I’m anxious to see and hear more.

 

Congratulations!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by Conserv

[inca-orange]

ALPINA also used the 1800 TISA cylinderhead for their engines!