48 BMWcar
BMW CLASSICS
Sales of
the BMW 700
amounted to
190,000 units by the
time it went out
of production in 1965
the transmission ratio, this lightweight
performer was able to reach a top
speed of between 150 and 200km/h
(93 and 124mph) – enough for Walter
Schneider to bring home the German
Circuit Championship in 1961. Over the
years, the RS was driven by such BMW
luminaries as Hans Stuck, Alexander von
Falkenhausen and Hubert Hahne.
The ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’
philosophy certainly worked for the 700,
and BMW couldn’t add to the range fast
enough. Then, in 1961, the company
introduced the 700 De Luxe and, while
it retained the standard running gear, it
offered far greater levels of equipment.
There was even a convertible model
that BMW manufactured, with help from
long-time soft-top partner, Baur. Based in
Stuttgart, Baur reinforced the car’s load-
bearing elements, and redesigned the
700’s rear end. While this inevitably added
weight, the convertible was equipped with
the more powerful Sport engine, to ensure
there was no drop-off in performance.
700 EXPANSION
However, the most significant change
came in spring 1962, when BMW chose
to make the 700 bigger to appeal to an
even wider audience. As the company
wasn’t yet out of the woods in financial
terms, it chose to retain the standard
machine’s wheelbase, but extended the
body by 32cm to offer a roomier package
than before.
This new model was marketed as the
BMW LS and the BMW LS De Luxe. As
of the autumn of 1964, the coupé also
received this longer body, coming off the
assembly line in its last year of production
as the BMW LS coupé. In all, sales of the
BMW 700 amounted to 190,000 units by
the time it went out of production in 1965
(62,141 saloons, 29,242 coupés, 92,416
LS saloons, 1,730 LS coupés and 2,592
convertibles).
But it wasn’t just in Germany that the
700 was successful, as it was popular
in many other countries, t. BMW even
delivered assembly kits to production
plants in countries that had high import
duties on fully-assembled vehicles. Hence,
the 700 got built from kits in Belgium, Italy,
Argentina and even – in small numbers –
in Israel.
While it was ultimately Herbert Quandt’scash injection that saved the company in
1959, the 700 no doubt played its part
in convincing him that BMW had a viable
future. Had it not been launched that year,
he may well have gone along with the
sale of BMW to Mercedes, and Germany’s
automotive landscape would have looked
very different indeed.
As it was, the 700 tided the company
over until the launch of the Neue Klasse
saloon in 1962, and even the 700’s
production techniques proved valuable in
making sure that the new, bigger, saloon
was a success. The 700 might have been
a small package, and perhaps a relatively
unknown one today but, without it, we
wouldn’t have had the successful BMW
dynasty that followed. lBMW 700 LS De Luxe
models rolling down the
production line during
the early 1960s.Minimalistic instrumentation in the four-seat BMW 700.