We all know the pain of looking at a rare automotive icon butchered by a poor attempt restoration and/or tuning. Jerry Dhillon, from the UK, did the right thing and chose a BMW 1602 for his electric conversion project and not the 2002 he had originally intended to use.
This is not to say that the project was a failure – on the contrary, it looks great and drives great, too. It’s just that the 2002 is perhaps rare and expensive enough to warrant leaving it alone, especially when a 1602 suits your goals just as well. Both models were produced by BMW in the mid-20th century, but while the former had a lively two-liter engine, the latter made do with 1.6 liters of displacement and lacked punch.
For Dhillon, it didn’t make any difference because the engine was going away, anyway. An electric motor that took its place made 122 PS (120 hp / 90 kW) – more than the 2002 ever had. The battery pack size and range aren’t mentioned in the video, but the tuner says the restomod is quite adequate for trips in and around London. Weighing in at just 1,100 kilos (2,425 pounds), it must also be fun to drive.
As you might expect, converting a rare BMW 1602 to electric power doesn’t come cheap. Dhillon ended up paying around 80,000 GBP (nearly 100,000 USD) all things considered. Going for the 2002 model instead would have ramped up the costs even more.