Before Chris Bangle came along, BMW styling was simple. Whatever the size or intended market, you'd give it a well-balanced three-box profile, a thrusting shark nose complete with kidney grille, add in the trademark 'Hofmeister kink' on the C-pillar, then put the pen down, with the satisfaction of a job well done. No flame surfacing, no controversial rumps, just variations on an 'if it ain't broke then don't fix it' theme.
The first 3-series - the E21 - was the epitome of this styling approach. And it worked, too. During the course of the first 3-series' production run between 1975 and 1983, BMW factories in Germany, South Africa and Egypt churned out more than 1.3-million E21s, making it the best-selling BMW in history.
In doing so, the smallest BMW helped to define an entire class of car - the compact executive saloon. Now, junior and middle management types could afford a classy, sporty car that looked just like their boss's 5-series.
As you'd expect in a small BMW saloon, the neutral handling, rear-wheel drive, faithful steering and light weight make the E21 a car with track-shed potential, especially if you can find one of the later, fuel injected six-cylinder models.
This 96,000-mile E21 316 isn't one of those, unfortunately. Being a 1982 model, it's one of the last of the line, which is a good thing, but that also means it gets the carburettor-fed 1.8-litre four-cylinder motor that originally started out in the 318.
These engines need to be fed with 98-octane super-unleaded or better and, with just 90bhp, it won't melt tarmac or tyres.
The seller seems to have done his best to mildly spice up his 316, however. The original rear drum brakes have been replaced with discs, there are Spax coil springs and shocks all round.
The car also comes with a heap of spares, and the seller has apparently done plenty of work on it, including replacing the sills. It might not have the 'right' engine, and £1000 is pretty strong money, but E21s have suffered at the hands of the Barry Boys and so they're a pretty rare sight these days. Besides, those magic letters 'o', 'n' and 'o' are present, so we very much doubt you'd have to pay the full grand.
If you want a bit of track fun, or to get your hands on a 'starter' classic, you could do a lot worse.
Advert is reproduced below:
1983 (sic) BMW 316 E21 For Sale, £1,000 ono
I have for sale here my 1982 E21 BMW. It is a 1.8 litre carbie motor with 96,000 miles on the clock.
I have owned her for over 3 years now and have conducted a lot of work with this car including the following:
Replaced both sills, front valance and foot wells
Converted rear brakes to disk brakes and replaced all brake hoses with braided lines.
Replaced front brake disks and pads.
Replaced controlling arms
Fitted spax coil springs and new shocks all round
Replaced carpet with new carpet
Swapped the original Stromberg carbie for a weber 32/36 downdraft carbie (original will come with the car if you want to swap it back).
New tyres (less than 1000 miles on them).
I also have a pile of spares with the car including tubular exhaust header, gaskets, spare head, twin carb set up and other bits and pieces I will include with the sale.
The car is taxed until December and MOTed till June 2010.
SOTW special update: MX-5 sold
Perhaps it's because we've had such a pleasant September, but our little blue Eunos has gone to a loving home barely a week after being on sale - and to the first chap who came to see it.
PH's resident classified guru SimonSaid picked our buyer up from the local train station in the glorious sunshine and, roof down, showed our man around the car. After a little haggling, we let it go for £1100 (we'd been asking £1250).
"I knew we were going to sell it as soon as he arrived. The sun was shining and I had the roof down - perfect MX-5 weather. It was the romance of the situation that sold it."
Perhaps we should get Simon to sell all our cars...
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