BMW 1500/BMW 1600/BMW 1800/BMW 2000 (Typ 114/Typ 115/Typ 116/Typ 118/Typ 121/E6). 1962–73 (prod. 350,729 for four-door saloons, plus 25,827 Touring). 2- and 4-door saloon, 2-door convertible, 3-door estate. F/R, 1499, 1573, 1766, 1773, 1990 cm³ (I4 OHC). Powerful sporting saloon, new from the ground up, with monocoque design, and regarded as the car that saved BMW. Series usually referred to as Neue Klasse. Attractive exterior styling, the work of Wilhelm Hofmeister with Giovanni Michelotti advising. Original 1500 with 80 PS on tap. Excellent handling, if tricky in the wet, and established BMW as a maker of sporting saloons. Subsequent bored-out versions had even greater appeal, including in competition, with ultimate incarnation the 2000 Tii, the second i denoting BMW’s first fuel-injected engine. Coupé also developed off this platform, covered separately. The later ‘02’ series had its roots in the two-door version (Typ 114) of the 1600 (and 1600 Ti), which was released in 1966, and informally referred to as the 1600-2. Convertibles (Typ 114C) of the 1600 two-door were made by Baur. E6 referred to the BMW 1600, 1800 and 2000 Touring of 1971–3, a three-door fastback estate related more to the two-door models.

Manufacturing location: München, Germany

Marque: BMW | Successors: BMW 1502, 1602, 1802, 2002, BMW 5er-Reihe (E12)

q.v. BMW 2000 Coupé

Off-site link

• Honest John Classics: ‘BMW 1500, 1800 and 2000 (1962–1972)’