1968 BMW 1600 - 1600-2 Cabriolet

One of only 1,882 full convertibles built by Baur

Part of an important BMW collection since 1983

Highly attractive colour combination

Just five owners from new

When BMW introduced the 1600-2 in 1966, the direction was clear: smaller and lighter than the Neue Klasse saloons, but with everything that was making BMW desirable again. Rear-wheel drive, a willing four-cylinder engine and a chassis capable of rather more than simply proceeding comfortably in a straight line. The series that would later become known as the 02 was born.

That it would also spawn a convertible was by no means a given. For the open 1600-2, BMW turned to Stuttgart coachbuilder Baur. There, the two-door saloon was relieved of its fixed roof and extensively reinforced. The result looked pleasingly natural: four seats, a fully retractable soft top and the same clean, unfussy lines that suited the saloon so well.

Under the bonnet remained the proven 1.6-litre M10 four-cylinder with 85 hp. In the lightweight BMW, that was enough for decidedly lively performance – only now with considerably more sky overhead. The one thing Baur never entirely managed to overcome, despite all the reinforcement, was the lack of torsional rigidity.

Large production numbers were never on the cards for the open BMW. Baur’s elaborate conversion made it expensive. Production ended as early as 1971, after just 1,882 full convertibles had been built, 200 of them in the final year with the two-litre engine. BMW and Baur subsequently adopted a fixed roll-over bar for the open 02, which restored considerably more rigidity to the body. That such a solution could sell perfectly well despite the visual compromise had already been demonstrated by the competition from Stuttgart.

This 1600-2 was delivered in September 1968 to a housewife in Gräfelfing. It remained in its native Bavaria until 1983, when it passed to a BMW collector in Austria. It did not receive Austrian individual type approval until 2007 and, remarkably, is still awaiting its first Austrian registration.

That almost 60 years of a car’s life do not pass entirely without leaving their mark is also evident from the original German registration document. It records a repair to the right front and the restamping of the chassis number in 1979. Over the decades, this rare Cabriolet has never undergone a fundamental restoration, but it has been kept running to this day. That lends it a certain charm and removes some of the worries that come with a car intended to be driven rather than merely admired.

And if there is one thing BMW’s 02 series does particularly well, it is delivering precisely that “Sheer Driving Pleasure” the advertising promised all those years ago.