[V8] Re: 5-car garage NAC

Tue Nov 23 11:59:40 EST 2004

....beats the hell out of me.  I assumed that the reference was to the 1600 
and 2000 cc BMW's.....not the Datsun, which was a whole nother thing.

Maybe I drifted off in the midst of the original 
thread.....probably...happens sometimes after a brief tearing up of the 
asphalt in the V8....adrenalin subsides and leaves me limp...

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Coleman, David" <David.Coleman at blackrock.com>
To: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>; <SuffolkD at aol.com>; 
<v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 8:49 AM
Subject: RE: [V8] Re: 5-car garage NAC

> Good read, but what the heck does this have to do with the Datsun's size
> (which actually is quite small)??
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com
>> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Roger M. Woodbury
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 7:45 AM
>> To: SuffolkD at aol.com; v8 at audifans.com
>> Subject: [V8] Re: 5-car garage NAC
>>
>> --1600 and 2000 cc front hinged hood tiny tiny car....
>>
>>
>> Nope.  Not tiny at all.  My wife (at the time) and I bought
>> two 1967 BMW 1600's.  They were brand new in 1967, and were
>> at the time quite revolutionary.  The  1600 came only in a
>> two door version and was a bit smaller than a Volvo two door
>> sedan.  Not as tall, but extremely comfortable for four
>> adults to travel in.  The added benefit was that they would
>> run away and hide on almost anything else on the road that
>> didn't have eight cylinders.
>>
>> BMW had been making these cars for several years or so, and
>> there were other variants...an 1800cc and 2000cc four door
>> version that came in several other varieties.  BMW wasn't
>> importing their cars at that time. Rather the importer was
>> the legendary Max Hoffman, who earlier had been responsible
>> for importing Mercedes, Porsche and others (It was Max
>> Hoffman who convinced Porsche to produce and import the
>> Porsche Speedster).  Anyway, in Europe the BMW sedans had
>> some variants, and a few made it here.  There was the BMW
>> 1800 TI and BMW 2000 Tilux....the same car, the 2000 being
>> MUCH more luxurious with leather and other goodies.  Then
>> there was the 1800 TISA, which was a wild, prancing, snarling
>> rally car for the road.
>>
>> Hoffman convinced BMW that bringing in their sedans was a
>> good idea, and the 1600 was the first major push for BMW
>> automobiles in the US.  It was quite revolutionary, with
>> fully independent multi-link rear suspension, and remarkably
>> smooth four cylinder overhead cam  engine of 96 horsepower.
>> The trunk lid had what is not, the de rigeur tool box, and
>> the trunk itself was very large for a small car.
>>
>> My wife (at the time) had had a Mustang
>> convertible....TERRIBLE car which I hated profoundly.  It was
>> a small six cylinder with four speed, and when the fuel tank
>> was eroded by the  elements and the exhaust pipe, I demanded
>> that she get rid of it. We went car shopping and lo and
>> behold!  found the BMW 1600, which I had NOT heard of up
>> until that very moment.  We took a test drive and were
>> absolutely hooked:  $2600, as I recall.  The buy of
>> automotive history, or so it seemed.
>>
>> We took that car on our vacation trip through Maine, and when
>> we got back, to Massachusetts, I took the car to the dealer
>> for its mandatory first service.  While in Foreign Motors (it
>> was in Brighton back then, on Commonwealth Avenue...dunno if
>> it is still there, or just in Natick), the enthusiastic
>> salesman showed me the "latest 1600"....on the rear, opposite
>> the BMW and "1600" nomenclature was the word:  ALPINA. Under
>> the hood was the familiar silver valve cover but instead of
>> the black sheetmetal round air cleaner, along the side was
>> this oblong gray box in front of two 40dcoe Weber
>> carburetors.  I was invited to drive the car.  Late the next
>> week, I drove my pristine Austin Healey 3000 MkIII to Foreign
>> Motors, and although I couldn't afford to, I traded for what
>> was one of only a dozen or so Alpinas ever  imported.
>>
>> We did a lot of rallying and autocrossing in those days, and
>> I absolutely flogged the BMW....but no matter how hard I
>> drove it, it just ran and ran.
>> 135 horsepower, as I recall....and almost outran a Maine
>> state trooper one night on a twisty road not far from where I
>> live now....his big Plymouth with 383 cubic inches could
>> catch up on the straights but as soon as things got twisty,
>> the Alpina was GONE.  I didn't know he was a statey, just big
>> headlights in my mirror...
>>
>> After I got back from Southeast Asia, I sold the Alpina in
>> favor of something more practical....VW beetle, I seem to recall.
>>
>> But the cars were really wonderful, useful, roomy,
>> comfortable and economical to travel in.  Expensive by the
>> pound, though, much like BMWs of today.  It was all worth the
>> price of admission, but I would purely love to have that
>> Austin Healey today...its would be worth a fortune in the
>> shape mine was in in 1967.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
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> 