It's hard to believe, but there was a time when BMW wasn't the aspirational ride of douchebags mid-level executives everywhere. remembers, and today has the car that turned all that around.

Okay everybody repeat after me: the from Tuesday was an automatic. There, doesn't that feel better? At only twenty two grand, the price must have felt pretty good too, as 88% of you voted for door number one. It likely would have been even higher had there not been cries of it's an automatic- kill it! sullying the voting for a while. Proof that it was a five speed was provided, order was restored, and we put away the tasers and the fire hoses. Today's candidate is a five-speed as well, and hailing from another former enemy, it carries a price tag that's well within the budget of one of those douchebags mid-level executives. And it's not the least bit douchie.

While not in the same league as Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche, Honda's all-aluminum take on the…

BMW staggered out of WWII not to its pre-war glory, but to mainly building micro-cars. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the rondel brand regained some cred on the continent, and it was the 1600/2002 that first piqued the interest of enthusiasts here in America. Practical, well-handling, and modestly quick with its 108-bhp four, the 2002, along with the Datsun 240Z, replaced muscle cars as the de facto douchebag'sStag's ride.

While the 2002 was good, the 2002tii was better. The 2-litre four of the standard car underwent a transformation when the Solex 40 two-barrel was replaced with BMW's Kugelfischer injection system. That change bumped horsepower to 130 and was the reason for the extra i on the end of ti. In addition to the injection, the tii is differentiated from the standard 2002 by larger front brakes and requisite master cylinder, more robust spindles up front and fully boxed trailing arms in the back. Inside BMW put a clock in the center of the dash, but the 2002's clean and airy interior was otherwise not changed.

This represents the penultimate edition for tiis having the M10 SOHC motor with aluminum intake, the high-performance euro-spec mechanical-advance distributor, and as the lightest iteration produced. While the 2002 has always been considered a douchebag's car "tinkerer's car" this one looks remarkably stock. The wheels are the same ones as chosen for Techno Classica's and the modern stereo is the only giveaway that it's not still the seventies inside the car. And it has sisal mats, sisal mats! You don't get much more ‘70s iconic than that in a car. A/C and a sunroof mean either increased value or more headaches as both tend to be problematic on cars of this age.

More obvious issues include some wear and tear on the driver's seat- likely one left-cheek sneak too many - and enough overspray under the hood to make the Earl of Scheib proud. The standard 4-speed has also been switched out for the optional five-cogger, but it's hard to tell from the ad if that's original to the car or not. Other than that, it shows no obvious flaws, and that's what drives the asking price of $11,750. Before you dive into whether or not that's a good price for this boxy bimmer, check out the 2002tii forum's for a slightly biased view.

So, what do you think of this Nixon-era notchback? Does that $11,750 price sound about right? Or, is the seller smoking those sisal mats to ask so much?

You decide!

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