Somewhere way back in the recesses of my car-induced brain, I recall the BMW 700. Digging around in the Barn Finds archives I could find six that we have covered before, most recently about a year ago with the first example making the scene in 2015, so yeah, they’re seldom seen here. Today’s find is a nice-looking 1960 example, domiciled in Englewood (near Sarasota), Florida and available, here on craigslist for $19,900 or a reasonable offer.
The seller refers to this coupe as a “micro car” but I think that’s shrinking it a bit too much, it looks larger, perhaps more in the category of a sub-compact. Regardless, these are, in fact, small cars, not quite twelve feet in length, riding on an 83″ wheelbase and weighing in at about 1,500 lbs. Built from the model year 1960 through 1965, over 180K 700s rolled off of BMW assembly lines. As for body styles, a coupe, a saloon (sedan), and a convertible made the cut. There was also an elongated version known as the Lexus Luxus (LS) that employed a six-inch longer wheelbase.
Outside shows well. The repainted finish is deep, the body is straight and the trim is all still in place. The images of the body and underside indicate no evidence of rust and the body panels show as aligned and free of repairs from crash damage. Viewed from the front, my eyes detect Volkswagen Type III styling while the back end reminds me of a Sunbeam Alpine. It all flows together pretty well but that greenhouse seems a bit tall.
The most remarkable thing about the 700, at least remarkable to me, is the fact that these are rear-engined, air-cooled cars employing what is essentially a 40 HP, 700 CC flat-twin motorcycle engine. This example carries the “Sport” designation which employs a twin carburetor arrangement. The seller tells us, “MOTOR RUNS WELL 2 CYLINDER 4 CYCLE MOTOR“. But he then adds, “NOT DRIVEABLE – NEEDS BRAKES“. A floor-shifted four-speed manual transmission makes the rear-wheel connection.
The interior is in fine, clean, and cheerful nick. The checked seating upholstery is new and matches the door panels which are likely new as well. The headliner, unfortunately, has seen better days and will need some attention. The dash and instrument panel are a study in contrasts. The instrument panel shows pretty well and is better endowed than I would expect in a car of this status. The lower dash, however, is stained and discolored.
OK, so now it’s what to do with it time. Well, it’s surely a curiosity item but it’s a surprisingly nice-looking car, perhaps more Continental than what I would expect for an economy model. If it were mine, I’d get the brakes fixed, obviously, and drive it here and there when the mood struck. It would be a good Cars & Coffee entrant if that’s your thing; beyond that…well I’m not sure. How about you, would you find this BMW 700 to be a welcome addition to your garage or is it just a bit too different?
“Luxus” not “Lexus”. It’s not directly germane (npi) to this coupe but there was a whole fad among the second rank of German automakers to come out with long-wheelbase but still 2-door versions of their small sedans – besides BMW, there were long versions of the NSU Prinz and DKW Junior.
Finally Opel (at the Fourteenth Floor’s bidding?) launched the Kadett B in 1966 with a choice of 2- and 4-door sedans, albeit on the same wheelbase, which made the others look kind of silly for not having taken that next logical step.
How can the seller of this rare coupe have such a well-restored 700 like this, and ignore fixing the brakes?! He needs to take care of that instead of unloading that burden on a buyer. That’s just plain ignorance on his part.
It’s possible that the car was restored, the owner passed, and the inheritors are either selling the car or sold it to a flipper. With the rest of the car as solid as it is, the brakes should not be a huge deal. Trailer it out, fix what needs fixing – and I’m sure that it’ll need more than brakes if it’s been sitting – and enjoy a neat little oddball BMW. I see nothing to get upset about here.
Always loved these ..especially the coupe like this.This car deserves to be driven and enjoyed..I would not hesitate taking it on a long road trip…heck I did 200 mile plus road trips in my Berkeley with just a 328 two stroke motor..crusing between 65 and 70. I am sure this would be faster than that. Love to fix the brakes in Fla…and drive it to Ca. on backroads..
‘long road trips’ in this darling itty bitty car, but that was when we all had great knees/hips! 20-30’ish!!!
Looks somewhat “Amphicarish”
The nose seems to have a hint of VW Squareback/Fastback. From the side I’m reminded of an Opel Kadett A. And, the taillights look as though they shared tooling with the 1958 Packard.
The backing plates and method of brake adjustment have me stumped, so I don’t blame the seller for offering it as is. There were only 3,500 imported to the states, so used parts are next to impossible to find. Shipping (expensive) parts (expensive) from Germany gets you mostly rusty parts that likely aren’t better than what you have. BMW will occasionally pull out the tooling for legacy models, a new right front fender cost me $550. New correct material is still available for the headliner, last I checked, and the lower dash you criticized, Jim, is just vinyl glued to the firewall/bulkhead, so easy fix. There are a couple things that don’t look right to my eye, but it’s a much nicer car than mine, and if the tool kit is authentic, price looks tempting. Despite appearances, I don’t believe any parts are shared with their motorcycles.
This car appears to be in great shape. I would do brakes, wheelbearings, clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing. Engine maint would be points, plugs, adjust the valves, change oil and filters. New tires would be a must.
After that I would treat it like a motorcycle trip and bring tools, spare plugs, tire
kit with compressor, oil and a bottle of Advil.
I’ve got one of these. They were never imported into the US, so they are fairly rare. Here’s a link to mine: https://dempseymotorsports.com/1960-bmw-700/
-Wayne
I’ve worked on several of the smaller BMW cars, from various Isettas to the 600 and 700 cars, but not a coupe like this one. I currently have a longtime friend from Germany, who is a car collector, staying with me for a few more days, and he said most mechanical parts are available in Germany, from specialists who deal in the 600/700 vehicles.
weird looking car…. I’m not a Beemer fan tho..
I haven’t heard anything you’re a fan of yet.
I remember him saying that he would like to own a Zimmer….. So that tells you a lot about how much peoples opinions matter around here!
We are fortunate to have one too, a convertible owned at one time by John and Elaine Bond, the founders of Road and Track Magazine. These were brought in to America, first by Fadex, then by the notorious Max Hoffman. American imports, per Jackie Jouret’s book BMW in the USA,
Fadex – 2,129 cars 1959 to 1961 (Actually some of the early numbers were 600’s)
Hoffman- 714, 1962 to1965, of those only 40 in 1963 (our year),3 in 1964, and 5 in 1965.
Not too many out of a production 188,121. An old German told me there was a waiting list for these cars in Europe, till the end. Unfortunately BMW did not have the money to develop and tool for this car to evolve. Largely due to Hoffman. With the success of the “Nue Classe”, I guess they picked the right one.
A fun “what if” I found in the Porsche book “Success Was Expected”, the 914 chassis was developed by an outside company, originally in a light composite material, for a 1,000 cc BMW motor that was expected as this motors successor.
thousand, twelve hundred cc, now were talkin an engine (for this car, even if still a boxer/cycle motor).
I agree w/above on styling similarities (a bit) but also see the sporty printz or googlemobile.
Nice car, but not $19K nice to me. I had one that had been raced. Made approx. 50 HP. Not quick, but it would do 90 and corner faster than I dared. A friend in the Air Force stationed in Germany said the Sport coupes were known as “the poor man’s Porsche”.
Florida. Wide whites and ugly upholstery.