BMW 2002tii

I was dropping off LadyFriendOfTigerKoi at her abode in deepest South London. It was about 11, 11:15am, and we'd had a good time, prior to her flying off to Granada for a few days. Anyway I'm fooling around, a little lost as I'd forgotten the way and Kiss FM was on the radio. I'd had enough of that and switched to the CD player.

"...All my silence and my strained respect...
Missed chances and the same regrets..."

I'm singing along quite happily to Prefab Sprout's 'Bonny', when Ladyfriend says, "I can tell you're enjoying the moment, aren't you. You're driving smoothly now....'

I didn't want to blow it by pointing out that we'd hit a stretch of nicely laid tarmac and the crowded streets had flared into leafy avenues; that the DSG gearbox was really doing all the work; that a mellow, melancholy tune just cooled me out...I was just enjoying the drive. If she had said 'TigerKoi, I have to get to Granada now', for me it would be, "Great, let's do it! Let me just fill up the tank..."

On the route, I saw this little number: a BMW 200tii. The Neue Klasse series was in many respects, the template car that set BMW on the road to sporting saloon domination. What eventually evolved into the 3-series was a car that successfully combined a dynamic road handling ability with a punchy engine range into a compact sporty proposition. And the 2002tii was the one to have. With 134 bhp from the 2.0 litre I4, rear-wheel drive and just a little over 1000kg at the curb, it offered an enormous amount of performance for the money.

Whilst the 2002 Turbo is considerably rarer, the worldwide production of tii's from April '71 to December '75, came to just under 45,000. That's not rare, but as I've said about other cars, it's the attrition rate to cars that are 15, 20, 25 years old, that signifies how uncommon their sight is on the road today. And in fact there were only 3768 made in RHD, as many ended up in the States. Larger front brakes than on the standard car, were but one of a number of features that if you sat down and drew out a nice chart showing all the model ranges over the years, would emphasize that this car can be considered a true ancestor of the 135i and the E92 M3.

Anyway, after a few snaps, I jumped back in the car and continued the drive back to her place.

"...Kiss the thief and you save the rest
All my insights from retrospect..."

Cars, I do love 'em.