Peoples' reactions to my 02 in LA traffic

[landon]

8 minutes ago, Slavs said:

Well, I agree. The positive reactions far outweigh the annoying ones. The only thing many people know with regards to our cars is "Tii", so I presume that is why they bring it up so often. "Is that a Tii ?" is the most common question. I'm personally not a fan of the Tii as it is not as user friendly and utilitarian in comparison the standard 02. And by the time the "Tii" made its debut, BMW had already slapped on many of the after thoughts which were never part of the original styling, especially here in the states. "Tii" as an acronym has taken a life of its own. It's become a catchword like the word "Green" (Green economy, Green friendly, Green business, we'e all going "Green"). And, we're all "Tii". And, yes there are many people asking if it's for sale. When I say No!, they just drive off. The guys from the Middle East relate it to their youth or someone in their family back home, the muscle car crowd knows hardly anything about it and wonders why the Germans only put a 4 cylinder in the car. To them it's all about cubic inches. And, then there are the opportunists thinking I don't know what I have and trying to buy the car for $500, and the young guys trying to race me in their new BMW coupes and of coarse the self professed experts who try to convince me they are more knowledgeable about my car. I think it's time to retire my cars after using them as daily transportation for 36 years in an area with some of the world's heaviest traffic. One gets annoyed at the attention after a while, not to mention the toll on the cars and all of the accidents etc.

I too get the the "tii" question regularly. I can hear the tone of disappointment in there voice when i say it's not. It's like, "awww....too bad, you could have had a really cool car like I had ( or my father had) in the day." It's all good though when anybody takes notice and it always leads to some good conversation. At the end of the encounter I drive away in my plain Jane old base 2002 and they drive  away in their SUV.   

[dasfrogger]

I've gotten "isn't that the car that James Bond drove" more than any other comment - at least a dozen times.

 

These people are either not car people, not James Bond fans, or both. Either way it brought them an emmense amount of joy to see it on the road, which is pretty neat.

[Lucian]

Great stuffing, … I live in LA in area called Persian Square in Los Angeles and Iran must have bought a million '72's everyone had one in Iran,,   a young hot rod kido in Ford GT pulled up next to me at light 2 days ago  and said his dad had a '72 in Iran... and lots of positive stuff as described above a couple of my best ones … a older lady in cross walk detours and comes up to me I hold up my arms thinking she will hit me, I thought I had done something wrong and she says that was her honey moon car in Poland … another Bollywood lady producer in traffic light said she wanted to drive & buy my car … I said lets drive so around the corner  I let her drive and then told her the price and she said she will stay with her new Jag, maybe I did that all wrong oh well that's Bollywood … more fun than a barrel of monkeys … Lucian …   ps one more … I have a audi muffler (sport-ie sound) so if I pull up to light on right next to a Porsche and rev you will see him sit up in his seat and burn out till out of sight, I guess he saw vids of 2002 pacific raceway  …. ha ha ha …. great fun       L

https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/blog/definitive-guide-persian-square

 

[FunElan]

Enthusiasm is always good. Even though I drive a 1600 I always say 2002 because to the average person, they are effectively the same car. 

[OriginalOwner]

I guess I am truly invisible.  In 44 years of driving around L.A. in general, and lots and lots of other places, I've never ever had that many people offer up comments and/or commentary.  

 

Here's some reflections ......

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

Edited November 9, 2018 by OriginalOwner

[PaulTWinterton]

24 minutes ago, OriginalOwner said:

I guess I am truly invisible.  In 44 years of driving around L.A. in general, and lots and lots of other places, I've never ever had that many people offer up comments and/or commentary.  

 

Maybe it's your wheels.   Sorry, Carl, couldn't resist.  You take a lot of ribbing about your wheels.

 

When I drove down to Monterey last year I got heaps of thumbs-up, waves, questions.  I was very surprised as I expected Californians to be passé because there are sooo many cool cars.

 

My funniest comments (here at home):

 

-  An older dude said "I lost my virginity in that car!" (Not in this       particular one , I hoped.)

 

-  "Nice Datsun!"

 

 

Edited November 9, 2018 by PaulTWinterton

[Vicleonardo1]

Onlooker... "What kind of Car is that?"

Me...."I don't know, I just stole it"....

Me...."It's a stick" 

Me..." Gas Powered". 

Me..."Red" 

 

My other answers: 

"No, it's not the year....It's the model number."

"No, it's the model number, not the year."  

[1972_Targa]

Mine seem to come in three varieties:

 

1. "Wow. I had a 19_ _  2002 that was (non-BMW color name). Damn, I wish I'd never sold that car."

 

2. " Wow, I didn't know that BMW made a 2002 truck/pickup/convertible/targa-top/etc."

 

3. "Wow, beautiful Corvair."

[TobyB]

5 hours ago, joebarthlow said:

 

no, the seasonal affective disorder in Seattle with southern California implants has just beaten everyone down to not care, that's all.

 

[TobyB]

Quote

1968 BMW 2002 at Pacific Raceways

You're leaving time on the table at the entrance to 6...

 

Classic optimist down the inside of 3a, too.  Nice.

 

 

t

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by TobyB

[maharaja]

Slavs, All good and love the dialog

I feel your pain when I take my Speedster out and get "How long did it take to put the kit together" or " Is that a Karmann Ghia?" or "What is the top speed?"

Keeps you grounded

[TobyB]

Drag you for pink slips!

 

me- I don't want to know what color slip you're wearing.

 

t

 

[Mike Self]

I rarely stop at our local Air Force Base gas station without someone telling me that they had one while stationed in Europe "back in the day"--we have a lot of military retirees in the Dayton area.

 

Actually I rarely go anywhere in the 02 without someone asking about or complementing me on the car.  And lotsa thumbs up on the highway--from Harley biker to Porsche pilot.  But when I drive my pristine, bright red 318is E30--a far rarer car in terms of production and US sales, it hardly draws a second glance except from fellow BMW buffs.  

 

mike

[ray_]

1 hour ago, maharaja said:

Slavs, All good and love the dialog

I feel your pain when I take my Speedster out and get "How long did it take to put the kit together" or " Is that a Karmann Ghia?" or "What is the top speed?"

Keeps you grounded

 

That's priceless.

 

I think the proper answer to the first question is something along the lines of "it's still a work in progress"

 

Cheers,

[Slavs]

Andrew,

 

That's weird you mention the homeless guy with really good knowledge of 02s. I must have also run into him at a light after an off ramp. The guy knew details and BMW colors. He knew the color and year off my car right away. I was completely taken back.  There is not one time I take it out that someone doesn't say something about my car. I get more positive comments vs. negative by far. And, one of my old friends who has a Lamborghini Diablo didn't understand why so many people reacted positively to my car. I think he was envious not to have received as much attention.