BMW 2000 C Automatic Coupe

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Launched in 1965, the BMW New Class Coupé, styled by Bertone, was one of the most handsome cars ever to emerge from the BMW design office.

Introduced just after the 3200CS coupé was discontinued, the styling was based on the 3200CS and the New Class Saloon, but the front of the car was all-new. The headlights were behind a glass fairing, and the grill featured the familiar BMW ‘double-kidney’ design at the centre. Sleek and shark-like, it had a wonderfully elegant and airy cockpit with slim windscreen pillars, a large glass area and a beautifully restrained wooden dash. The later E9 coupés, including the 3.0CSL, were based on a stretched 2000CS chassis.

Built for BMW by Karmann in Osnabrück from 1965 to 1969, the BMW New Class Coupé, sold as the BMW 2000C or the BMW 2000CS, featured the new 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated, single overhead camshaft, 2-litre version of the M10 engine. The single-carburettor 2000C delivered 100bhp while the twin carb 2000CS produced 120bhp and could reach 60mph in 10.4 seconds with a top speed of 110mph. Both versions used a four-speed manual transmission as standard, while the 2000C was available with a three-speed automatic transmission as an optional extra.

Of the 11,720 New Class coupés built between 1965 and the end of production in mid-1969, 9,999 were twin carburettor 2000CS coupés, 3,249 were single carburettor 2000C coupés with automatic transmission, and 443 were 2000C coupés with manual transmission. According to the vendor, all cars left the Osnabrück factory in LHD form, just 140 making it to the UK where the BMW franchise converted them to RHD. Of these, 112 had manual gearboxes, the remaining 28 being automatics.

Rare in the extreme, this RHD 2000C Automatic was first registered on 7th February 1969. It passed to a Mr Lloyd in June 1978 who bought if from the BMW franchised dealer in Oldbury with 23,000 miles on the clock. He kept it until 1996, a letter on file from Mr Lloyd confirming that when he passed it on to the vendor (its third owner), the car had covered just 43,000 miles.

In 2006, the vendor decided to sell the car, insisting that the new owner should give him first refusal should he decide not to keep it. Instantly regretting its sale, he was delighted to be contacted almost immediately by the new owner asking if he wanted it back as his circumstances had changed, a situation which suited all concerned very well.

Invoices on file show that in 1999, the BMW Workshop in Maidstone replaced the front floor pans and both sills. The total cost was £2,239 and photographs of the work carried out are in the file.

The vendor, an ardent BMW enthusiast has spent most of his time maintaining and improving his pre-war model and so has barely driven the car, adding a mere 5,000 miles to the total over the last 20 years, the odometer now reading just over 48,000 miles from new. Unused for the last few years, the car is due to carry a fresh MOT by the time of the sale.

It started instantly when we arrived to take the photographs, the vendor informing us that although serviceable, the automatic gearbox could do with a check-over. The headlining has also dropped, a common issue by all accounts for which BMW Workshops have developed a permanent solution.

An ideal 'user and improver', this extremely rare low-mileage Coupe just oozes Teutonic sophistication and would make a very interesting addition to any serious collection.

AMENDMENT; Bidders are advised that the car is being sold without an MOT. It was presented and failed on a few minor brake related issues.