Friday 25th June 2010

SOTW: BMW 316 Baur Convertible

Summer sun fun in a 1980s BMW - just don't expect any frills. Really

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Like any true Brit, Shed has a natural soft spot for the underdog, but this week's offering is about as underdoggy as cars get.

Allow us to explain. Although this may look to the uninitiated like the true 1980s icon that is the BMW 3-series convertible it is, in fact, one of the final versions of the coachbuilt Baur 'Top Convertible'. This was the open-topped predecessor to the first full-on factory convertible, and sold for a while in BMW dealerships alongside its rather more elegant successor.

Think of the Baur E30 as Fergie to the factory car's Princess Di, Betamax to the full convertible's VHS, Jive Bunny and Master Mixers vs Kraftwerk. This particular example has had it even tougher, with a proper 1980s poverty specification: cloth seats, plastic wheel trims, 89bhp carb-fed 1.8. When it comes to kit, you name it, this car hasn't got it.

For some reason, though, all this makes it immensely appealing. There's an honesty and a simplicity to this white cab that's missing from the soft-tops of the 21st century. The exposed rollover protection, sparse equipment, the utter absence of any performance ambitions; this car is simply about driving with the roof off - and nothing else matters.

It won't set your trousers on fire with its performance, and it probably won't impress the mobile phone-brandishing chaps in braces down at the local wine bar - it's almost the very antithesis of the glitzy yuppy-ism of its successor.

Still, if you fancy making the most of a spot of summer sun (and be quick, because Wimbledon's on so it's bound to rain soon), we can't think of a less pretentious way to enjoy it.

Our vendor has produced a rather enigmatic advert, so we can't exactly tell you a lot about the car, but it seems to have survived in decent condition during the course of its entirely reasonable 132k miles, and its (alleged) two lady owners have kept it regularly serviced.

It also looks to be fairly tidy, although a classified description of 'fair condition' is often a reason to set alarm bells ringing, and the peak of summer is hardly a sensible time to buy a convertible from a financial point of view. But £1k is a solid price, and if the car is as solid as it looks, it might just be a bit of a bargain.

Advert is reproduced below

BMW 316 Baur
£1,000

Two lady owners - regularly serviced - fair condition.
MOT Jan 2011
1988, 132000 Miles

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Postsript - Mainstream Baur convertibles may be a thing of the past, but the quirky coachbuilders were doing interesting things to BMWs well into the 1990s, as this photo we unearthed of a fascinating take on an E36 3-series saloon shows...

 

 

[Mafioso]

Ah I see that red e36 is a 1.6! Did they only specialise in the gutless engined models that nobody claimed!?

Edited by Mafioso on Friday 25th June 10:20

[mister.t]

There is a Baur 325i Convertible Round here that's been laid up for about 5 years.

£1k for that one even with that spec doesn't seem like bad value to me. But then what do I know

[JayMan]

I like it, honest shedding. Great considering the weather at the moment, worth a grand of anyones money.

[JayMan]

JayMan said:

I like it, honest shedding. Great considering the weather at the moment, worth a grand of anyones money.

PS I used to have a white E reg non convertible and it was a solid car, felt well put together and drove very nicely.

[Garlick]

I know I say it a lot, but if I had the space and was looking for a summer London hack, this would be it.

I love the trims, the white paint, the base engine and the cloth trim. Lovely stuff.

[shouldbworking]

"Betamax to the full convertible's VHS"

you realise betamax was better than vhs right?

[/pedant]

of course this may even be your objective but i know nothing about royalty or kraftwerk

[bob1179]

shouldbworking said:

"Betamax to the full convertible's VHS"

you realise betamax was better than vhs right?

[/pedant]

of course this may even be your objective but i know nothing about royalty or kraftwerk

'Autobahn' and 'Tour De France' were cracking tracks though.



Nice shed this week, I wouldn't mind mooching around in that old motor myself, in fact, I even have a set of 14" E30 alloys to go onto it.

[SAndals]

Was looknig at this one for £1200

http://www.carandclassic.com/car/C150407/

[RJDM3]

My friends dad used to have one when i was a kid. He loved the car so much and hated it when he sold it. But to be fair it had covered 700,000 some thing odd miles

[Riggers]

shouldbworking said:

"Betamax to the full convertible's VHS"

you realise betamax was better than vhs right?

[/pedant]

Of course this may even be your objective but i know nothing about royalty or kraftwerk

Oh yes - that's kind of the point. And also that VHS was the commercially more successful format.

[S3_Graham]

a PROPER 4 seat convertible!?

[louismchuge]

surely I'm not the only one who thinks that's a bit of a heap?

[MattGTA]

Good grief. The E30 is bad enough, but what *were* they thinking with that E36?

[MiniMan64]

No, no, no, no.....that's all kinds of wrong surely?

[varsas]

wow, that E36 looks like a 'laudlette' style to me, the chauffeur sits in the front part, and passengers get the back with the roll down roof...very odd.

[JayMan]

S3_Graham said:

a PROPER 4 seat convertible!?

Do Baur only do conversions to base models, this one too has cloth interior, non colour coded bumpers, wheeltrims and base model engine!

[davido140]

SAndals said:

Was looknig at this one for £1200

http://www.carandclassic.com/car/C150407/

That is stunning.. want want want want want.

[Twincam16]

I'm not sure I go with the whole 'lack of pretensions' thing. Surely a base-model BMW is the very height of pretentiousness?

Then again, I suppose time is a great healer, and it does have an appeal I can't quite put my finger on. I'm not sure I'd want to own it and yet I think I'd be pleased to see one trundling around.

That E36 conversion reminds me of a very similar convertible four-door Mercedes-Benz W124 I once saw in Oxford.

[williamp]

I like it, but unless your name is garlick, you'll miss the goodies pretty quickly.

I'd love an unmolested, high-spec E30. 2 door or convertable again, but it would seem all the survivors seem to have "original M-tech" spoilers and suchlike fitted, which I dont like.

[KrazyIvan]

SAndals said:

Was looknig at this one for £1200

http://www.carandclassic.com/car/C150407/

Wow really like the look of that , nothing worse then having the money but no justifaction (or space) to buy a car you like