Cupid's arrow

Spring is in the air and with it the emergence of something new and wonderful has hit the Muppet household. Yes dear friends I have fallen in love.

Given my tender years it is not, as you may be imagining, an infatuation with a young and tidy lithe muscular type. No, the object of my as yet unnoticed ardour is somewhat older than me. He has a questionable appearance and to others may even be described as shabby, unkempt and obviously showing his age. However this does not taint my view or growing affection. To me I see maturity, history and I have no doubt he has experienced and observed far more of the multitude of Europe’s roads than I. He looks lonely to me and I have an overwhelming compulsion to look after him, but I fear he will never be mine.

moody, shabby...old, just what a girl like me is looking for

A 1976 lurid yellow BMW 1602, he is beautiful. The BMW 1602 entered the world in 1966 as the 1600-2, the 2 indicating nothing more than the simple fact that the car possessed two doors. It became one of BMW’s fastest sellers and was initially produced with an 85bhp 1.6 engine it progressed to a twin Solex carbed 105bhp unit in the 1970s later 2002 Turbo models boasted 150bhp and a top speed of 128mph. It was replaced in 1975 by the 3 series.

yellow peril? luscious lemon? you decide


nice arse...

My modest infatuation however is your run of the mill 1602, nothing too hairy. He entered my life about a week ago having been hidden away from the World in a neighbour’s garage. I know it’s wrong, I feel dirty. I’m an Alfa Romeo owner and the two marques in the era the 1602 was strutting his stuff were staunch competitors. Not to mention the statement I made to my nearest and dearest that ‘I would never buy a BMW….I don’t want to become one of them’. But my head is filled with trips out sharing bratwurst, beer and sauerkraut. I could call him Franz or Jens or Klaus or...something else German.

in his heyday...hey cutie!

And now I am a torn, broken woman. What should I do? What would become of us? My family would reject me as an outcast and my friends would disown me. I would have to travel to Bicester Designer Outlet Village to shop alone, wear a hat and Jackie ‘O’ sunglasses to my local petrol station. As for the Alfa Owners Club, well it doesn’t bear thinking about.

The matter of what to do if I became the owner of the lonely Bavarian unfortunately is just that - ‘IF’.

The current owner is at a loss as to what to do with the little car. He is pondering restoration, and has flirted with the idea of selling, but alas, can come to no solid conclusion. I have tried batting my eyelashes and talking about the car in a disparaging manner "oh no one would ever want that" but my cunning falls upon a stony silence.

So this evening I looked on as the 1602 entered his snug garage once again and accepted the fact that for now my amour with the beguiling yellow Bavarian will remain unrequited.

But then it is always nice to flirt.

http://www.bmw2002.co.uk/home.htm
http://pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=103&i=8215