Description
Necessity has often been the mother of invention and so it was with the BMW 700. Through the fifties BMW built a rather disparate range of automobiles from the luxuriously appointed 502 V8s that were the fastest German saloons at the time down to the utilitarian Isetta. Derived from the Isetta was the quirky BMW 600 and it was this car that in many ways formed the nucleus of what became the 700. The major ingredients were there: air-cooled flat twin cylinder boxer engine at the rear driving the rear wheels through an all-synchromesh four speed manual gearbox, semi trailing arm independent rear suspension with coil springs and a leading link front suspension with an enclosed coil spring. They simply needed to be clothed by a more conventionally styled body. BMW was put in touch with the Italian maestro Giovanni Michelotti who designed a neat and most attractive body for the 700. It was available as a 2-door saloon or coupe. BMW increased the engines capacity to 697cc and raised the horsepower to 35 at 5200 rpm. This gave the little saloon remarkably spirited performance that soon attracted buyers in large numbers. Then came a Sports version with 40 bhp courtesy of twin Solex carburettors that could run to 85 mph! Very soon the BMW 700 was winning on the racetracks of Europe on Sundays and selling like the proverbial hot cakes on Mondays. After years of being in the doldrums, BMW was alive again and winning. It was hardly surprising that limited numbers of the highly specialised BMW 700 RS (for Rennsport) were built based around a light but rigid tubular steel spaceframe and powered by a specially developed twin overhead camshaft version of the boxer twin, with shafts and bevel gears from the crankshaft. It was complex but powerful, developing 70 bhp at 8000 rpm. As good as the 700 was, and in its time it was very good, it had a present for BMW but no future. It bought valuable time for the financially beleaguered company and kept the cash flowing through the tills while the foundations were laid for the forthcoming Neue Klasse saloons that really would set the template for a prosperous future that would see the company become a world leader. Built from 1959 to 1965, its life is captured here in period road & comparison tests, new model reports & intros, historical articles & performance data. Unusual rear-engined model styled by Michelotti is captured here in period road & comparison tests, new model reports & intros, historical articles & performance data. Models covered: Sports Coupe, Convertible, Saloon, Rennsport, Luxus, CS, LS & RS.
With a total of 88 fully illustrated pages. SB.
