Brief History

In 1950's and early 1960's BMW was struggling to recover from the post war economy. They produced some beautiful luxury cars such as the classic 507 and were also very well known for the aircraft parts. To really capitalize on the mid-range car, BMW came out with the "Neue Klass" or New Class in English. BMW's first attempt at the New Class was the1500. A great concept and wonderful design didn't take place of the much need reliability to reach the masses. The 1500 was the start of BMW's come back into the automobile market. The 1500 ultimately led to the development of the 1600, 1800, 2000, and 2002. The 2002 was produced from 1968 to 1976. Approximately 80,000 cars were built for US specs. In total, BMW produced over 825,000 cars, with only 200 of those being fully convertible. Cars built from the years 1968 to 1973 had the round tail lights, while cars built from 1974 to 1976 had bigger bumpers, a wider trac and performance killing smog equipment. (the02drive.com)