Help I.D. a 2002 or 1600?

[Guest fvhr]

Thank you for all the great replies!!!

 

Yeah, the entire deal is a little "fishy" to say the least. Not to bore you but here's the short version of it...

 

I have a hot rod and restoration shop NW suburbs of Chicago. A guy stopped in saying he had a 1970 BMW 2002 in need of paint. He said the current shop doing the work was closed now because the owner had a heart attack. Told me car was in almost ready for paint stage. He showed me pictures and we made deal based on actually seeing the car when it arrived. He agreed. He had the car shipped the following week (June of 2017) Me and my body/paint guys look over the car and to our surprise it was pretty much what he had described. The gentleman doing the work must have been a BMW guy for sure because all over the car were notes describing which seams were brazed, welded and so on from the factory. Very detailed. 

 

Well, several months later the owner never came back. Never called me and he had never given me any of his contact info!!! I was stuck so I contacted the tow company who brought me the car. they gave me what they think was his name and cell number and a P.O. box for an address. I have left 100 messages in the past 9 months and sent 3 certified letters with ZERO response to any attempts to communicate with him. I am now trying to get the title through abandoned vehicle laws and they of course need a VIN.  So we looked EVERYWHERE we thought to look and nothing. Literally nothing...

 

So now armed with your info I'll look again and see what I find. I'll post pictures as well. From what he told me I "think" I remember him saying it was either a 1970 or 72 car but with the wrong engine. It is an original cabriolet car for sure. 

[Guest fvhr]

How do I post pictures?

[Mark92131]

1971 was the last year of the 1600 Cabriolet.  They made a very small number of factory 2002 Cabriolets, but I only know of 1 in the US, belonging to Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent.  The 1600 inner fender VIN number stamping on the Cabriolets looks significantly different than other BMW 2002's, more hand stamped.  I could see how these could be easily filled in with bondo and smoothed over.

 

As Mike pointed out, on the Baur (factory) 1600 cars, the door wing window is fixed (no round knob to open) and front windscreen is lower and raked back slightly.  There were other (non-factory) conversion companies like Lumina taking BMW 1600's and converting them to Cabriolets.  Lumina cars had standard (opening) door wing windows and front wind screens.

 

To post pictures, store them on your computer and use "Choose files..." link on your post to select and display them.  I am assuming this function will work for a Guest account.

 

Mark92131

Edited April 3, 2018 by Mark92131

[Conserv]

OK!

 

From my viewpoint, never having seen the car, the two points in favor of it being a bona fide factory cabriolet, are: (1.) someone went to the trouble to record the types of body seams, and (2.) it currently has an engine block from a Euro-spec 2002 manufactured during 1968.  We don’t have a lot of the latter here in States!  But a 1600-2 cabriolet would have likely spent years in Europe before being imported into the U.S.

 

I believe the handful of 2002 cabriolets (200?) were manufactured in 1971 and represented the end of cabriolet production.  If it’s a factory cabriolet and it’s a 1970 model, it’s a 1600-2.

 

You might have to become a forum member to post photos. I don’t believe there’s a charge to become a member, but you’re free to make a contribution to cover administrative costs. And you must promise to post lots of photos!  I made that up. We do love photos, however.  But I’m perhaps the last guy you would contact if you had technology questions.... ?

 

For me, I just click “Click to choose files” and proceed from there.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited April 3, 2018 by Conserv

[FunElan]

1 hour ago, Guest fvhr said:

Thank you for all the great replies!!!

 

Yeah, the entire deal is a little "fishy" to say the least. Not to bore you but here's the short version of it...

 

I have a hot rod and restoration shop NW suburbs of Chicago. A guy stopped in saying he had a 1970 BMW 2002 in need of paint. He said the current shop doing the work was closed now because the owner had a heart attack. Told me car was in almost ready for paint stage. He showed me pictures and we made deal based on actually seeing the car when it arrived. He agreed. He had the car shipped the following week (June of 2017) Me and my body/paint guys look over the car and to our surprise it was pretty much what he had described. The gentleman doing the work must have been a BMW guy for sure because all over the car were notes describing which seams were brazed, welded and so on from the factory. Very detailed. 

 

 

My father (in SoCal) has a '69 cabriolet that he just restored and I live in Chicago. If you'd like, I can come by to try and figure it all out with you (and I can post pictures for the group).

[Mark92131]

45 minutes ago, FunElan said:

My father (in SoCal) has a '69 cabriolet that he just restored

 

Your Dad's Cab is beautiful...

 

Mark92131

[FunElan]

Your cab is also beautiful Mark!!

[Guest fvhr]

 For some reason I just can't post pics...crap lol

 

Yes, a visit would be great!!! I'd love to make sure this car eventually gets into the hands of people that love it so any help is much appreciated.

[fvhr]

I signed up and now I can post pictures. Let me know what else you think I need to post, thanks!!!

 

As you can see, there is no VIN on the fender area. I wire wheeled it down to bare metal and still nothing...

[fvhr]

2 hours ago, FunElan said:

 

My father (in SoCal) has a '69 cabriolet that he just restored and I live in Chicago. If you'd like, I can come by to try and figure it all out with you (and I can post pictures for the group).

Yes, a visit would be great!!!

[FunElan]

Looks like a chop top to me. Not factory convertible. I'll message you. 

Edited April 3, 2018 by FunElan

[FunElan]

Actually, upon second glance, I see the silver dash which would indicate that it is a euro car. So there's still a chance it's real. The hard to tell if the frame around the windshield is shorter than a standard 2002.

 

EDIT: Looks like it could be a baur targa!

Edited April 3, 2018 by FunElan

[02Les]

Agreed, looks like a Baur Targa.

However, the 4 position relay bracket on the driver side fender was not a Targa thing until the '74-'75 models.

Edited April 3, 2018 by 02Les

[FunElan]

Hard to tell if it has that metal structure behind the rear quarter windows though. Looking forward to checking it out. 

[ray_]

On my '73, there is a hand-stamped VIN on the rear seat bottom support left side. On the folded lip.  Have a look there...

 

I mean it's on the flat top lip area now covered with carpet...