On the Street: 1972 BMW Bavaria
I encountered this nearly 40-year-old BMW in NOPA, on my way home from the Bay to Breakers festivities last weekend.
This model is really the first of what we today know as BMW's 5-series. I was impressed by the quality of the body and interior, and I think that, impressively, the design still stands up well nearly 5 decades after it was first conceived in the far reaches of Germany. Aside from the fussy side rub strips, the bodysides are qutie clean. And despite the odd and jarring flourescent yellow paint, the car manages to remain classy and not appear entirely dated.
Impressively, nearly all of the trademark design themes that define BMWs today are present in this antique specimen: the dogleg "hoffmeister" kink in the c-pillar, the twin-kidney forward-canted grille, and quad round headlights, the balanced proportions and even the pronounced character line running the length of the body.
It speaks to BMW's conservatism, too, I think, that the car stands up so well over time. There are lots of other 70s sedans that today come off as baroque or simply ancient. This Bavaria is neither - a true time capsule, what appears to be a daily driver, caught on the streets of SF.
