In the mid-1960s, BMW was facing financial hardship and a lack of widespread brand recognition. The sales success of the small-but-mighty BMW 700 enabled the Bavarian automaker to develop a new line of cars dubbed Neue Klasse. These cars went on to establish several of BMW’s signature design elements that endure today, including the Hofmeister kink upswept quarter window and the integration of the kidney-bean grille, updated for modern times. The most successful body style of the product line was the 1600-2 two-door coupe, which later became the 2002. Total production on these cars reached nearly 840,000 units, helping to ensure BMW’s long-term survival.

According to its BMW factory-issued certificate, the 1600-2 offered here was completed in August 1966, just a few months into production. It was delivered in Malmö, Sweden, finished in Derby Gray, and is reported to have remained there until 2013. The car then traveled to Germany, where it was refinished in its original color before being imported to the US. It retains not only its original engine and interior materials, but also its seldom-seen, early-style badging, swan-neck outside mirror, segmented front trim, and 1966-dated wheels. Rarely found in the US – and among the best-presented survivors of this important BMW model – this 1966 BMW 1600-2 has a place in any collection of BMW cars or groundbreaking postwar automobiles.