BMW 2002

The BMW 2002, launched in 1968, invented the sports sedan as a concept and created the template that BMW has refined ever since. Its 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, light body, and near-perfect weight distribution offered handling agility that contemporary larger saloons could not approach, while its practical two-door body meant it could be used daily. The 2002 turbo of 1973 was the first turbocharged production car sold in Europe, anticipating the turbo era by a decade. Automotive journalist David E. Davis Jr.'s famous 1968 Car and Driver review declaring it "one of the most beautiful sounds in the world" launched BMW's American market and changed the company's global trajectory.