It was 1985. I didn't think I could do a green car. "You'll do a green car or you won't do any car." He said — after inking the deal already, I found out later.
I suppose that this is as good a place as any to write about how I came to acquire the 2002 — heretofore known as "Kermit." It was 1985 and I knew I wanted a 2002 by the end of the year. My first ever. Dad may have been wealthy, but if I had just thought about my older brother's first car — a 1970 Plymouth station wagon, oddly enough also green — I'd have known what was coming.
I remember standing in the window of the BMW dealership and looking out onto the lot at the green car. "I dunno," I said to my Dad. "I don't think I can do a green car." "You'll do a green car or you won't do any car," he said — after inking the deal already, I found out later. I was foolish, but it was to become my car. My statement. If you'll forgive the obvious and look for the deeper meaning, it was to become my vehicle.
My mom put a big ole red bow on it and presented it in front of the whole school on my birthday. Nearly that same day, we took it to the local bimmer dealer where it sat for the next three months while I pined for it to be fixed.
"You'll do a green car or you won't do any car."— Dad, 1985 (already having signed the paperwork)
After a 10-year hiatus I started getting interested — and inspired — in working on the '02 again. It also helps that in those 10 years I came to slow down a bit and take a look at how things really work.
This is a page referenced shortly after I did the bumper mod on bmw2002faq.com. I am kinda proud of that.
See the Bumper Shortening Mod →