THE MANHART CLASSIC CARS COLLECTION EXPANDS WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A REWORKED BMW 2002.
The crew at Manharts have made sure to keep busy in their off time by creating a collection of Manhart-tuned classic cars for their own collection, and the public if the money is right. This is the third car to be released under the Manhart Classic Cars banner, and it’s another winner. It was just the other day that we showed you their reworked BMW E30 M3, the original wide-bodied boxer that has legions of fans around the world. The aesthetics chosen certainly did the car justice, and to make sure the car had the bite to match the bark, the original high-revving 2.3-litre 4-cylinder powerplant was chucked in favour of a bigger capacity and turbocharged inline 6-cylinder sourced from an ALPINA B7 S Turbo. The other classic that Manhart fiddled with was the iconic Italian hatchback, the Lancia Delta Integrale. This too received a complete visual makeover with upgraded underpinnings and a tasteful race-inspired interior. This time around, the German aftermarket specialist has chosen the oldest car to join the Manhart Classic Cars collection so far in the form of a BMW 2002 Tii, not just any one, an Alpina version. This classic 2-door was given a complete makeover just like the other cars, and the results are on par with what we’ve already seen from the company. We do like the end result, well we like just about everything we see besides one thing - the luminescent green stripe needs to go. Not that we have any say in the matter…
The classic BMW restomod looks rather good after Manhart had their way with it. The car was given Alpina “pig cheek) wheel arch extensions, decorative stripes and lettering in lumo green and silver that contrast with the Agave Green paintwork, which is an original BMW paint colour. That Agave paint doesn’t cover the whole car though, there’s a 2-tone finish and from the side chrome beadings up, there’s matt black, including the bonnet. There are 16-inch Alpina multispoke wheels in each corner and they’re closer to the body thanks to a Raab coilover suspension system by KW. Further enhancing the driving dynamics is a Wiechers strut brace providing more body stiffness. The brakes are bigger, the ones found on the car were sourced from an E21 BMW 323. The cabin features seats that match the exterior with the same bright green stripe along with blue stripes on the reupholstered Scheel race seats. Finishing off the interior changes is a Clubsport rear roll bar. Under the hood, there’s a 2.0-litre M10 inline 4-cylinder from the Aplina A4, and it’s been given a K&K intake and a bespoke Manhart free-flow exhaust system. This means the car now has 200 hp and 215 Nm of torque, up from the OEM rating of 130 hp and 178 Nm of torque. This end result is quite the looker. We’re going to carry on keeping our eye on Manhart to see what they choose as the next car to add to their Classic Cars collection. What would you like to see them work their magic on? We think a proper Mk1 Golf would be a winner, or maybe al Alfa Romeo GTV.
Take a look at the YouTube video that sadly doesn't show off the Manhart-tuned BMW 2002 Tii because the company doesn't seem to like making cool video of their projects. So to better understand the choice of using a BMW 2002 to add to the Classic Cars collection, take a look at this cool review of a minter of a bog standard one that's part of Jay Leno's amazing collection. You have to admit that the classic BMW looks just as good in the original OEM form too, but we'd still rather have the Manhart one: 1976 BMW 2002 - Jay Leno's Garage
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