A friends father called me last week asking if I would come and look at a car that was for sale down the street from him. The car is an Inka(ish) orange 1976 BMW 2002, and the seller is the original owner.
I was stumped, as this was RIGHT down the street from my parents house. I called another friend (not this guys son) who also lives really close to this car. He’s also my best friend and a hardened car head so I thought for sure he was holding out on me:
Me: “Yo dawg, what do you know about an Inka 02 for sale down the street from you?”
Him: “I don’t know shit about one, should I?”
I explained the situation
Him: “Assuming you have second dibs...next?”
His wife in the background: *unbelievably sarcastically ”HA....HA.” (they just bought a house)
I got the soft ok from my wife before I left the house in the morning...just in case.
My Wife: “I thought you were looking for Tom’s dad?”
Me:
Me: “Well if if he get’s cold feet or something...”
Wife: “ok, you scavenger”
Yesterday evening I met my pals dad to have a look.
The owner was one of my scout leaders from way back when! After we got over that we started chatting about the car. We went over the defects. There is some really shoddy floor work on the underside of both the passenger and driver side floor pans, a little rust in non-integral areas and a couple of areas where bondo was used poorly around bottom edge of the car.
He’s got the original sticker and manuals...the tool kit...everything, and it’s all MINT.
Then we started chatting about the paint. It was Sahara from the factory, then had it painted Inka when it needed rust work 20 years ago. He then had a fender repaired which was repainted a slightly different shade of orange...the shops answer...paint the rest of the car that color...
That sucks, but these cars are worth 10k with holes shot through them and this guy was asking slightly less! Also my buddy’s dad is planning to have the car restored including paint so... no problem.
Other than that I was in love with it as I have am with pretty much any small E chassis. The car was setup perfectly for a stock driver. The solex carb was ditched for a Weber 38/38, clutch is new, pedal box is new (which is one a few things that is a real pain in the dick on these cars).
As I vocally complimented the car, I silently appreciated the subtleties of mine. US spec 02's have 4 extra side markers, the awful stickity out bumpers, and the front turn signals are all bulbus and weird (because they’re meant to be turn signals).
On my car there are no bumpers, and the front “turn signals” are flush with the paint because they weren’t meant to be turn signals. In addition mine is a 1502 which is the only model to come from the factory without the chrome belt line and window trim. As I walked around the car I’m thinking, ok we’re removing this, filling in this, shaving off this... all before paint.
The seller asked if I wanted to go for a ride, and halfway through he let me drive it! It drove just as I expected, we were one immediately. After the drive I was comfortable that I could enjoy two very different BMW 02s.
But, I’m not going to get that opportunity because my buddies dad bought it! I am super excited for him, and actually for the whole family. Their mom is taking final cut on interior and exterior colors.
They’re planning to paint it Turkis, which I love and I obviously have first crack if he decides it’s too much of a project.
He asked me what he should do first.
Me: “Replace these 20 year old tires!”
Happy Tuesday!