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September Roundel

   Ok, the September issue of the Roundel is dedicated to the 2002,
this month being the 30th aniversity of the introduction the the
model.   My wife gave me a copy to read (she is the BMW CCA member and
I'm the associate member).   I was looking forward to reading it.

  Boy was I disappointed.   I'm not a real car nut, and I know some
people are real car nuts, but I do know a think or two interesting
things about the 2002.   I bought my first European car in Paris in
1971 and it was a 2002.   I've bought nothing but BMWs since.

  So I know a thing or two about the 2002 and was disappointed that
none of the 2002 articles in the Roundel mentioned some things about
the car I thought was significant.  I'm almost motivated to send
something to the letters-to-editor except I can't find an e-mail
address so I write to you insted.

   Some things I expected to find in the articles but were missing...

- - One article mentioned the similarity in styling with that the
Corvair.  But there was no mention that Baron Von <something-or-other>
had a hand in designing the 2002 and the Corvair.   I met this guy at
an OktoberFest in Tulsa.   He not only designed the 2002 and Corvair,
but also did the Datsun 240Z (which my wife currently drives).
Surely, an issue of the Roundel should have mentioned his name
somewhere.

- - One article when into great detail the difference between the model
years and those features imposed by the Feds pollution and crash
worthiness regulations.   But nowhere was their mention that there
were spacers under the shock tower mounts so the head lights whould be
a minimum distance above the ground.  A standard thing to do, at least
I thought it was standard, was to move this spacers to above the shock
mounting point so as to lower the car to its original European height.
None of the "definitive" Roundel authors seems to have known about
that.

- - The heresay is that Max Hoffman, first importer of BMW to America,
convinced the factory that the 1600 was a great car but it needed the
2.0 Liter engine to be successful.  Thus the 2002 was born because of
American influence.   Now maybe this is just a tale, but I found no
mention of it at all.

- - There is also one aspect of the 2002 that I wouldn't expect American
suthors to pick up.   In Europe at the time, all sedans were four
doors.  The 2002 was a very exceptional sedan by the mere fact that it
only had two ddors.   Even cars much smaller than the 2002 had four
doors.    Except for a few luxury cars, the 2002 was a large car for
Europe, yet it only had two ddors.

  I have my own 2002 stories to tell and wouldn't expect to find
others with similar experience reprinted in the Roundel.   But to miss
some intersting facts about the 2002 is disappointing.  I know Yale
Rachlain personally, and I feel sorry for him that this special issue
was a better job.