Turned 56 yesterday

[Gurmail]

I've had this 1968 Manila 1600 for a decade-and-a-half now. The ownership was the result of an inadvertent attempt to place a "low-enough" bid for a listing on the usual internet auto auction site on a lazy Sunday. Thinking that the attempt would easily be outbid by someone more knowledgeable than me, I went out to brunch only to return to a congratulatory message that I had purchased a vehicle - sight unseen - and I had no clue (or interest) of what an early BMW was.

 

The pictures posted in the auction listing certainly did not do this car any justice when, accompanied by my family, I picked it up from a warehouse on a vineyard in Sonoma, CA and saw it up close for the first time that it was no more than a little tired.

 

The family spent that weekend at the Russian river before embarking on the 3-hour drive south mostly on the US101, somewhere along which we passed by a Silver 5-series driven by Gordon (one of the FAQ members) who gave a tums up to us. That was the point of realization for me that this car could be appreciated by some.

 

Over the years, some minor works were performed to spruce up its appearance and functions. It has been a journey of some sort since, but mostly pleasing. That journey was made possible with a lot of help from members of this forum. For that I thank everyone here.

 

I have attached some photos of its current status. Again, my sincere appreciation for the help.

 

Gurmail

 

[Mike Self]

That's a seriously nice car, with all the little '68/early '69 details:  hubcaps, black air cleaner, proper brake fluid reservoir, plastic caps on the trunk lid torsion bars, etc.  

 

Lucky you for tripping over it--and then coming to appreciate it after a somewhat shotgun marriage. 

 

Interesting that it has the small Euro front bumper guards and apparently Euro license plate lights, although it appears to be a US spec car.  Does it have an early US 1600 VIN (they began at 1560001)?

 

mike

[SydneyTii]

That’s a gorgeous car!

[Zak]

My first 02 which I purchased for $500 back in 1982 was a 1968 1600-2 in Manilla with two tone chocolate brown / black interior. It's a really classy color combination, in my opinion. You have a beautiful example.

 

From my observation your car has some 67-68-69 mixing going on:

 

The smaller bumper guards up front are indicative of a 67. The larger bumper guards were introduced during the latter part of 67 on cars which were sold as model year "68".

 

The rear badge was fitted to cars produced during 67, including cars produced during latter part of 67 and sold as early model year 68 cars. Al later 68 and beyond cars had  a different badge located lower on the rear panel.

 

The position of the swan neck mirror is indicative of a 66-67.

 

The interior mirror is from a "67".

 

All 1600-2s through 1968 had the remote brake booster mounted on the side of the engine compartment. The brake master cylinder is mounted directly to the pedal box. You have the later firewall mounted brake booster with the brake master mounted directly to it. Someone may have swapped the pedal box and brake booster on your car because the newer style booster and brake master are easier to source. In your case your brake master is from the 320i as evidenced by the brake fluid reservoir. It's cheaper and a direct replacement for the brake master which was used on the 1968 2002 and early 1969 1600-2 with single circuit brakes. The 320i brake masters were either steel or aluminum. Yours appears to be the aluminum variety.

 

Those relays next to the brake master have nothing to do with these early cars.

 

Your electrical system is 12v, which was introduced in 68 on these cars. the 66-6 models are 6V.

 

Your belt line trim at the front of the hood is the later style. The 66-68 cars had a stylish embossed trim piece at the front of the hood.

 

From the pic of the trunk compartment your car appears to be 68 or later. The 66-67 cars had triangular cut outs on the bulkhead between the trunk and the interior. If, you take a closer pic of the area we can ascertain whether or not the cut outs are there as the hardboard which fills them may have  been painted. If it's all steel your car is certainly a 68 or later.

 

Take a pic of the inside of the hood so that we can determine if you still have the early style hood or whether it has been swapped with a later one.

 

Also take more pics of the interior so that we can tell you more about your car.

 

And most importantly provide the Vin. That will tell us a lot, and we'll determine what has exactly been swapped on your car.

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Zak

[saaron]

That thing is cool.  Congrats, and glad it worked out.

 

Scott