Neue Klasse BMW 2000cs: The Unsung Design Hero
Great design is polarizing, as is the case with the BMW 2000CS Neue Klasse Coupe which is now brought back into the spotlight; because BMW's Vision Neue Klasse concept draws heavily on this unsung hero of BMW design. Here we take a deep dive into both the Vision and 60's Neue Klasse, designed by Giovanni Michelotti, and how his genius together with fellow Italian design school greats Marcello Gandini and Bertone are once again shaping the future of BMW.
I'm giving a huge thank you to Graham Robson and his terrific, thorough reporting of the history of BMW with his book "BMW: Driven to Succeed," as this resource was invaluable when putting together this video.
0:00 Intro
1:46 BMW 700 Series, Isetta, 501, 507
3:18 The Neue Klasse & Giovanni Michelotti
3:54 The Garmisch & Marcello Gandini
5:52 The Vision Neue Klasse
6:36 Owning & Driving the 2000c
9:07 2000cs Rarity & Values, Retromobile, "A Man And His Car"
I remember seeing a car like yours when I was a kid in central Africa. It was 1965 and our town Kitwe had an agricultural show. There were several car companies showing their cars but I was impressed with the BMWs. I had never seen them before. I loved how the bonnet opened like a clamshell. Loved the quality too. You have a lovely car. I love the new ev class too.
I love how cars can take you back like this. My parents had an 1800 Sedan when I was young in England and we'd take road trips in it together with my sister, to Spain and Portugal. It had a distinct smell inside and in the trunk which came back to me together with those memories when I found my 2000c, and it's part of why this car is so special to me.
BMW 200 CS A beautiful and an expensive car which is a classic. Thank you for the video!
Not too expensive yet! Thanks for watching!
Undoubtedly a beautiful and timeless classic, thank you for taking the time out to show it to us.
Thank you for joining!
I've always liked the 2000CS - it's a product of its time. It sits nicely with the contemporary Flavia Coupes that also had a slightly odd front end.
Of your cars, this is my favorite. So much personality, just like its owner. Your narrative was very interesting -- it kept this 2013 needs-to-be-washed Acura TSX owner watching until the end!!
This is not an ugly car, it's artwork. A timeless masterpiece. Unfortunately for some people, they may look at it and think that this does not have the signature BMW looks and then say "oh that's not a good looking car". What they should be doing is taking their time to observe the unique beauty of the machine. I love it, and I really love the interior design of the period. Just beautiful. And the sound track of the engine is just ear pleasing. Respect!
It does sound lovely! Thanks for watching, so glad you enjoyed it.
Literally just saw a guy driving one here in Murfreesboro TN about 2 minutes ago!
There can't be many of these in Tennessee!
Your car is stunning. I adore the airiness and a look of lightness. I love how older cars really show the occupants to those on the street. The Vision Neue Klasse needs more work as it is bottom-heavy and just too large.
Thanks for tuning in!
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I've always liked these- very cool. I used to see one in Melbourne, Australia when I was a kid. It was in Dakar yellow I think. Yours looks great in white too. One thing I would sort out if it was my car is the rear headlining. I know it's a big job and expensive to take it out and retrim, but there are trimmers who may be able to tuck it back up and smooth it out while in situ so it is less obvious.
Wow I've never seen one in yellow. The interior needs to be redone, for sure, the seats are splitting, the sunroof needs to be serviced, the parcel shelf has those awful Kenwood speakers, the wood is tired, the door cards are scarred ...but the interiors on these are really tricky, and it's not easy to find someone who'll take on the task. Finding original material is nigh impossible and the interior trim, same thing. Someday. Thanks for watching!
Wicked cool !
It's beautiful
I was BMW guy at my birth. From 70's my late dad had only Beemers. I grew up with E28, E30, E34, etc. Last one was E39, 17 years till the end of the driver. I still have E36 coupe and Z3 in my garage but daily drivers are Hyundai Ionic EV and Mazda CX-5. Because Beemer is ugly. Last 20 years. But this gives me hope. If Neue Klasse will come this look, I'm back.
Stupende!!! Classe e... Design... Uniche al mondo!!!
Love it.
It takes some getting used to, but has its charm and it's fascinating to see a nice example of the predecessor of the e9, which I consider their finest design. I don't mind the glass faring so much as the perceived height of the face of the car due to the low placement of the bumper and elongated kidney grilles.
The Marchal driving lamps fill the gap nicely. Thanks for watching!
@@TheCarCrush thank you for the informative video.
Beautiful. 🎉
Great video of the car and nice example I own two of these cars in the UK and have my own register of them in right hand drive
Oh cool, where can I see the registry?! How many in the UK?
How much Bertone was involved in the original E12 5-series is contested. Also, when you say Bertone, who you really mean is Marcello Gandini, again, as he was the lead designer at Bertone at the time. And BMW have long contested he had anything to do with it. Paul Bracq had just been brought in as the head of design at BMW, and he's traditionally been said to have been responsible for the generation after the Neue Classe, that is the E12 5-series, the E21 3-series, the E23 7-series, and the E24 6-series. However, re-doing the Garmisch and making a big hubbub about Gandini being responsible for it may have been a retro active gift to him acknowledging his involvement in the BMW design language.
There's a newfound transparency from BMW expressed through press communications and van Hooydonk himself in terms of recognizing the external designers shaping the era. BMW does not (at least any longer) contest that Bertone/Gandini had a hand in the first 5-Series, in fact to the contrary. BMW's own press materials for Garmisch state: "Gandini and his team at Bertone have worked on the BMW Spicup show car and the first generation of the 5-Series, which was created under the lead of BMW's former head of design, Paul Bracq." You're correct in that by mentioning Bertone for the 5-Series I'm referencing Gandini: I tried to condense things somewhat and didn't mention Bracq, or even Hoffmeister. I'm curious, as you clearly love design, what do you think of the Vision Neue Klasse?
@@TheCarCrush Thanks for asking about my opinion! I like the Vision Neue Klasse, it's definitely a step in the right direction. However, in my opinion, it's a little bit too little too late. In my opinion, most of the BMW design of the last twenty years have been complete rubbish. Some of the latest stuff is almost comically grotesque. And I think now is a good time for them to try out what kinda stuff will stick in the future. Chris Bangle's brief for the E65 7-series was keeping what he thought was the brand dna and completely re-invent the rest. So he kept the double round headlights, the double kidney grille, and the Hofmeister kink, which he thought was intrinsically BMW. The problem is, you can not just take a couple of attributes and plaster them all over, there needs to be something more to a design philosophy. The problem is that the market have changed for the last twenty years, and the cars that was traditionally BMW are now simply out of fashion. This is a problem not only for BMW but also for Mercedes, Lexus, and especially Jaguar. Look at Jaguar and see that there simply isn't a market anymore for the traditional kind of cars that they are famous for, the market changed and the demographic disappeared from right under them, Jaguar is on the brinks of bankruptcy because there's no one buying that kind of car anymore. And even though I applaude BMW for trying, they have to relent to the fact their traditional market for 3-series/5-series/7-series sedans simply isn't there anymore. What they should be looking for is something that would cover all bases including EVs and SUVs. And there you get the Porsche problem because it simply looks ridiculous plastering an SUV full of sports car attributes like the Cayenne looks like a 911 that ate too many cheeseburgers. BMW seems to be in an identity crisis looking in the mirror and asking themselves who they really are? But aren't they more than just picking up some design cues from here and there in their history?
It'll be interesting to see how closely the production version of the Vision NK resembles the Vision. And I agree the past decade from BMW has been a mess, design wise, pulling together styling elements that are working well for other, less premium manufacturers and pasting them all together. I like the Vision NK as it's a cohesive idea which takes a point of view, a stance. Your point on Jaguar is an interesting one. I think there is still room for "beautiful" cars, even though they may seem to be out of vogue at the moment. Ferrari I think has done better than most in this regard, particularly the 296 and nearly, nearly with the Roma. And I think the latest Maseratis are quite good, too. Jaguar's big misstep was forgetting how important the interiors were to the brand, to the Jaguar experience. I interviewed Ian Callum at the F-Type's debut here in LA years and asked him about this, and he said that the E-Type was never a leather and wood interior affair, and that's why the F-Type was more purposeful and technical inside - I thought it just looked cheap, and so did the XE and cars that followed. Porsche is interesting, too, over time many of the designs age so well. I'm liking 996 and never thought I would, and the generation 1 Boxster is looking better than ever. I very much like the gen 1 Macan for what it is. I've always had a bit of a challenge wrapping my eyeballs around Panamera but it's gotten better with each generation. Cayenne started with a clear identity - love it to leave it - and now for me is sort of handsome in a generic SUV way. Porsche's upcoming 7-passenger Range Rover competitor will be interesting to see.
Your car is exceptional AND beautiful. The ‘new’ direction for BMW…not so much. They feel cheap and chunky to me.
A very beautiful car, that also provided the base (rear end) for the famous 2800CS. But I have to correct you on one point: "Die neue Klasse" from BMW was the E3 (2500-2800 etc) and was the factorys idea of carving some of the Mercedes W108/109 (the S-class back in the 60ies) cake. The E3 was a fantastic car but did not overwhelm the market for Mercedes. You may easily verify this information by reading Auto, Motor und Sport from the 60ies
Hi Tina, and thanks for watching. I think perhaps you are confusing the Neue Klasse and the E3, also called the New Sixes? Neue Klasse did indeed begin with the 1500 Sedan in 1961/62. BMW celebrated the NK's 50s Anniversary in 2011 and issued a news release at that time which is available at the BMW Global Press Site (easy to find with Google) called "50 Years of the BMW New Class" which you might find interesting. Also, the NK 2000C/S has MUCH more in common with the E9 2800CS than the rear end: the interior and main structure is carried over, while grafting a new front end into place. The wheelbase was increased to accommodate the new, larger 6 cylinder engine, and the front suspension was also significantly revised, too. As I mentioned in my notes, I relied heavily on both BMW's EXCELLENT press site and resources and also, "BMW: Driven to Succeed" by Graham Robson. If you're interested in learning more, check it out!
I stand corrected - thank you!@@TheCarCrush
It gets confusing!
Lovely bmw! I bought mine from South France.. Not driven yet as needs sympatic resto.
Thank you!!
The 2000CS was a German Chevrolet Corvair. As the Corvair inspired numerous European automobile manufacturers/designers.
There's a likeness, for sure, but I don't share your view that one directly inspired the other. Take a look at the Bertone-designed 1961 BMW 3200CS; that's where much of the 2000CS design originated from I think.
The CS has 2 twin Solex carbs. no webbers
Do want.
The truth is the entire German car industry would have been quite nothing without the Italians.
It appears to me BMW has been going through an identity crisis the past few years. The whole EV push is clashing with their driver centered feel of the past not to mention the recent styling.
I agree, but I really like the direction they're heading in with the Vision Neue Klasse.
Ugly? It’s beautiful I had one as nice.
Its a simple elegant design,appealing more to a conservvative owner. Certainly more pure than the modern day garbage 😂😂
Because designed by an italian designer.... Michelotti.
... maybe next time ~ less pittin around Griffith Park & more time showing the engine, drivetrain 'n trunk 'n stuff?
I hear you, but this was really focused more on the design evolution, and design is my way into cars in general. The trunk is HUGE btw and really clean, I debated a shot of the engine but...it didn't make it. LMK if you have any ????'s and I'll answer. And thanks for watching.
This "vision new class" is an obvious degradation. There's nothing new or cool about creating car which looks like a cheap 3d model.
For me, the Vision NK is the first BMW in many years that's shown real design leadership rather than being a pastiche of what everyone else is doing, or has been styled to appeal to a specific market. It's still a "Vision" show car so, we'll see what the production version looks like.
Its a piece of crap,Sergey is sooo right!!!
That thing is hideously ugly. Just when I thought nothing could look worse that a contemporary BMW.
Great design is polarizing! Love your handle btw!
man that thing is so ugly.if they kept that front end they would not have sold many
Yep I've heard that before! And you're REALLY not going to like the way BMW's look in the future, assuming they look like the Vision Neue Klasse!