Manhart might be best known for its updates to modern cars, but lately it’s been reminding everyone that it loves oldies, too. The German tuning house has already restored and upgraded an E30 BMW M3 and a Lancia Delta Integrale, but for its latest project its stepped back in time another 15 years and set to work on a classic BMW 2002.
But this is no ordinary 2002 – it’s the high performance tii fuel-injected version, and also a rare Alpina-modified example. Fresh from the factory in 1971, a stock tii’s 2.0-liter M10 motor put out 128 hp (130 PS), which was a respectable number for the time, and represented a 10 hp (10 PS) lift over the twin-carb 2002 ti it replaced. But various period Alpina mods, together with more recent Manhart-applied tuning touches including a new exhaust system lift that to a claimed 197 hp (200 PS), while also swelling torque from 131 lb-ft (178 Nm) to 159 lb-ft (215 Nm).
Factor in the 02’s tiny 2,200-lbs (1,000 kg) curb weight and those numbers start to look even better, and should give this resurrected classic enough punch to mix it with modern hot hatches like the Golf GTI, if not a current Alpina.
Related: Manhart’s Lancia Delta Integrale Is A $144k Hot Hatch Classic With 370 HP
Upgrades already applied to the 02 before it arrived with Manhart included brakes and a five-speed transmission from an E21 323i, the 2002 tii’s successor, to which Manhart’s team added Raab coilovers, a Wiechers strut brace and 16-inch three-piece Alpina wheels that are pushed to the edges of the specially flared arches by 25 mm spacers.
The swollen arches may distort the lines of the classic Alpina stripes, making it look from some angles like they’ve been applied by the half-blind intern, but the car still looks fantastic, and is perfectly set off by the original Alpina-trimmed Scheel seats. Overall, it’s a very different kind of tuned car than what we’re used to seeing form Manhart, but whatever it is you’re smoking, guys, don’t stop.
