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Behr A/C Brochure


Conserv

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Below is a period brochure for Behr A/C. I’m guessing it could date roughly to the introduction of Behr A/C, which I believe was in 1971 or 1972.

 

My attempt to date the brochure was confounded by the conflicting messages presented by the ‘02 shown on pages one and two. Let’s ignore, for now, the obviously-airbrushed wood grain dash and steering wheel rim — both of which, admittedly, look cool with the wood shift knob! The odometer shows 17K miles, so it’s not a brand new, never-been-kissed example. It’s probably someone’s baby, with a few personalized modifications.


The dash appears to be a two-piece version (April 1971 through August 1973). But the top piece appears to be Euro — neither fasten-seat-belts reminder nor labels surrounding the knobs — while the bottom piece appears to be U.S. — the shift pattern. Were these features airbrushed out or in? The heater slide control fascia dates to before the fan control moved down from the cluster to the slides (mid-to-September 1972).  And the face of the slide control is chromed, which may be Euro, but is definitely not U.S. at this late date. There is no lower pad on the steering column, which may also be a Euro thing. The radio is a 1969 model Blaupunkt Frankfurt Stereo US, based on the “reversed FM” scale and the AM/FM buttons, as in the fifth and sixth photos: a 1969 example of this model, which was probably manufactured for a couple years. The driver’s seat is a Recaro S. Yes?
 

The steering wheel is the U.S. version of the (faux) leather-rimmed sport wheel, based on its indented rather than perforated spokes. The instrumentation is U.S.

 

So.... is this car just some airbrushed creation, or is it a U.S. version that had, somehow, already acquired a Euro dash. It probably doesn’t matter much. But if was a real car, and the dash was partly replaced, why? To be clear, in the 1970’s, I saw many ‘02’s that were too rusted to be registered, but I don’t recall cracking dashes during those years. Meanwhile the wood fascia trim, emulating earlier and more expensive BMW models, if well done, could look quite cool.

 

I wanted to distribute this inspirational brochure while you still have some time under our sheltering-in-place guidance to add some wood trim to your own dashboard! ?

 

Comments always welcome!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

215BAE40-CB4F-417C-9919-876CCC25F874.jpeg

976F2F62-2D12-4711-BF90-73E962F18B1E.jpeg

9D880DD1-3D7E-422B-85F4-6EE0568953FA.jpeg

1B9FFD09-0106-476A-AA4C-F4B540128EB4.jpeg

92082502-AFC0-4C35-A3C6-9F8ABE6691FE.jpeg

FBE17D41-4F9E-4F55-9CAB-FDE499CA94B9.jpeg

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1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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2 hours ago, fastricky said:

Looks to me like they just tinted the steering wheel in post (ala Photoshop today) and back panel of the dash, it doesn't look like wood to me.

Agree--I have a couple of wood-rim bus wheels from an early CS coupe/2800 sedan and they have the same spokes as the plastic rim bus wheel (with horn pushes), with a wood rim.  And a definitely lighter wood color.  Sure looks like a Euro car to me--no lower padding on the steering column either, plus the bright chrome trim and what sure looks like a KM speedometer.  And I'll bet the brochure was conceived and printed in Germany.

 

Neat brochure; I have the install pamphlet, but not the sales lit.

 

mike

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'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

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3 hours ago, fastricky said:


... Looks to me like they just tinted the steering wheel in post (ala Photoshop today) and back panel of the dash, it doesn't look like wood to me.

 


Absolutely, Rick,

 

The term I used, “airbrush”, was the 1960’s term for photo re-touching, now known as Photoshopping! ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited by Conserv

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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1 hour ago, john02md said:

I have the Behr pamphlet that came with my new '75.  It's clearly the interior of a 74-76 automatic with a Blaupunkt Frankfurt Stereo.

John

 

1521531648_BehrPamphlet74-76p1.thumb.jpg.72dcd3f0edf23edb08946cf38716e535.jpg1005878735_BehrPamphlet74-76p2.thumb.jpg.ddf29e271a1fd8d99489b4626be13d3f.jpg

 


Terrific, John!

 

Thank you. I note that the car pictured has one of those inexpensive lace-up leather covers — Photoshopped a red-brown color. The car might be a 1974 because the 1974 steering wheel (except for the tii) was un-padded whereas the 1975 wheel was padded and “leather textured”.

 

It looks like they reduced the brochure’s size, from the four pages of the earlier version.

 

Thanks for posting this!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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2 hours ago, ray_ said:

Look at that driver's seat :)


You are so friggin’ clever! ?

 

The driver’s seat has seven pleats: clear evidence that this is a 1974 model, as only 1974 models had seven pleats!

 

Cool! ?  So why do I feel like Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny? She knows darn well that the Pontiac was offered with an optional limited slip differential while the Olds was not (or maybe vice verse), but Joe Pesci has to point her in the right direction. ?

 

Thanks and best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited by Conserv

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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22 minutes ago, ray_ said:

It does??

 

Didn't I see a sport seat in one pic? 


Oh, you were looking at the Recaro S Sportseat in the ca. 1972 brochure, while I was looking at the stock seat in the 1975 brochure...

 

Well, whatever: you got me thinking.

 

So I guess I should take back that “so friggin’ clever” compliment. Consider it retracted! ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

  • Haha 1

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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That's better.

 

As Grice once posted, it's surprising I haven't yet swallowed my own tongue.

 

?

  • Haha 1

Ray

Stop reading this! Don't you have anything better to do?? :P
Two running things. Two broken things.

 

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Very cool brochures - both of them!


The early one is indeed an odd mismatch of parts...??  To be honest though, it's mostly the mph speedo and the indented steering wheel spokes which throw me.  Everything else on it indicates a Euro car.  Yes, the shift pattern on the lower piece of the dash is usually associated with US cars, but I have seen it on some Euro cars too.


Just for the record, Euro-delivery 02's did indeed retain the chromed face on the slide control up until '72.  Back in the mid-90's I used to own a very original-but-somewhat-rough Colorado 1600 Touring which if memory serves me right was manufactured in March or April of '72.  This too had the chromed face on the slide control, and of course the fan control was still up next to the instrument cluster.

 

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O==00==O
With BMW-Regards,
Anders.

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6 hours ago, 02Anders said:

Very cool brochures - both of them!


The early one is indeed an odd mismatch of parts...??  To be honest though, it's mostly the mph speedo and the indented steering wheel spokes which throw me.  Everything else on it indicates a Euro car.  Yes, the shift pattern on the lower piece of the dash is usually associated with US cars, but I have seen it on some Euro cars too.


Just for the record, Euro-delivery 02's did indeed retain the chromed face on the slide control up until '72.  Back in the mid-90's I used to own a very original-but-somewhat-rough Colorado 1600 Touring which if memory serves me right was manufactured in March or April of '72.  This too had the chromed face on the slide control, and of course the fan control was still up next to the instrument cluster.

 


You “Euro’s” have all the good parts, Anders! I also thought the U.S. Blaupunkt, which fits with the mph speedo and the indented-spoke wheel, was an odd part to find on a Euro car.
 

My suspicion? We’ll never know, but now that I’ve aired my confusion, I’m no longer losIng sleep over it! ?

 

(I had no idea the chromed faces of the heater slides persisted past the Modell 71 facelift, but then, I don’t know a lot about Euro ‘02’s! ?)

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited by Conserv

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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