1516226

Very nice. More photos, please!

Has the European license plate holder and the bumper-mounted illumination been on the car since your acquisition? I’d like to know when U.S.-imported examples first received U.S.-spec license plate illumination and I’m looking for data points.

Regards,

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the compliment. Here's the PO hosing down the copious mouse waste from the engine bay before I got it home.

. This is a recent shot from the Dallas Divide, near Telluride, CO.

Based on the SN, the car was Euro-spec. It has Deutsch-only decals and markings but the speedo is in mph.  It came to the US in February 1967 through Hoffman, before the start of the mass US imports in September. As far as I know (I've spoken with two of the POs), the license holder, bumpers and license lights are original. The last owner put some E21 Recaros in it and saved the original seats. They were in good shape so I decided to use them. The owner before that owned a BMW shop in Boulder. He did the 12v conversion. There's some tarnish and a few blemishes, but it all original, and other than a few pieces (like a mid-seventies Becker radio), it's pretty-much box stock.

On 11/1/2018 at 5:04 PM, Windy Ridge said:

 

...Based on the SN, the car was Euro-spec. It has Deutsch-only decals and markings but the speedo is in mph.  It came to the US in February 1967 through Hoffman, before the start of the mass US imports in September....

 

Before the 1968 model year (introduced September 1967), there were no dedicated U.S. VIN’s. The only “market” was the Euro market. Differences between cars delivered to the U.S. and those delivered to the rest-of-the-world were not sufficiently significant to warrant dedicated U.S. VIN’s. The U.S. DOT and EPA, however, required dedicated U.S.-market VIN’s as they instituted the many safety and emissions-related regulations effective in 1968. Thus, the VIN, and even the German underhood stickers, don’t provide proof of original intended delivery.

The designation of Hoffman Motors Corp, however, as the legal importer, ensures that the car was originally a U.S. import: Hoffman Motors only had rights to new BMW’s imported into the U.S. So if the email from BMW Group says something akin to “...delivered on February 8, 1967 to Hoffman Motors Corp...”, it was originally a U.S. import.

The European license plate lights and license plate holder are consistent with other U.S.-imported 1600-2’s during this earliest portion of 1967. This changed as the 1967 model year progressed.

Regards,

Steve

Thanks Steve! The car is sitting out the winter in the Rockies. Driving it wouldn't be a problem (except for salt), but it won't make it up the snowpacked road home. I'm planning to pull the engine to inspect and seal it in spring. 

Brendan

It’s a beautiful and very early example, Brendan!

Keep us apprised of your engine project.

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!

Best regards,

Steve