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Behold, A New Day Dawneth...
The BMW 2002 was introduced in the mid-sixties as a Sport Sedan. A boxy, upright
small car that cost too much. Two doors only, and with a 4-cylinder engine. Air
conditioning was a dealer add-on, questionably effective at best. A less
popular, cheaper and less powerful 1600 variant was also available. Just in time
for the gas crisis of 1970. For most people, all it took was one test drive they
had to have one. It has been reported that the 2002 single-handedly saved BMW as
an automobile manufacturer, it was that good. It still is, and in the mind of
many has achieved a cult status. "Freshened" ones are a blast to
drive. Car and Driver magazine’s David E. Davis couldn’t come up with enough
superlatives for the car.
The Initiation...
So okay, the deal is, I got a taste of one of those "dang furrin’
cars" while I still had the surprisingly "tossable" ’70 Cougar.
My Cousin had discovered the joys of BMW via a 2002 he paid an "exorbitant
amount for and it had 100,000 Miles on it", we all exclaimed. We worried
about the sanity of our relative, but then, he’s always been a bit
"quirky". I had occasion to drive his 2002, and even took a couple of
trips with him in it. Very Impressive, even to someone addicted to American V-8’s.
I remember one trip that took us into a raging whiteout of a snowstorm (though
at night). No one could see very well, and none of us should have been out in
it, but there we were. A semi-truck lost his way in the snow in front of us, and
we couldn’t stop. Cousin Edwin just heeled the wheel over, the car bit in, and
off we went at 50MPH (yeah, too fast for conditions) into the median strip. He
feathered and danced on the throttle, zigged and zagged, and pushed on out past
the truck and back onto wherever we thought the road might be. We continued on,
unscathed and still in (mostly) proper forward motion.
It all happened so fast, my heart rate didn’t even have a chance to go up.
We never got below 45, and the car did everything asked of it. Maybe it wasn’t
too fast after all? A similar thing happened to me in my own 2002 look-a-like a
few years later…not a scratch, but I wasn’t going 50. Just a stupid move on
the part of a fellow "driver" that caused be to be amazed that I didn’t
hit him. Bimmers, as they are called, are not supposed to be good snow cars. Don’t
you believe it, but good winter tires do make a difference. "Beemer"
refers to the motorcycles, I am told.
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