Some things, no matter how good on their own, should never go together. Spaghetti and chocolate, Michael Jordan and baseball, Honda Civics and Craigslist. However, this 1976 BMW 2002, with an Audi 1.8 turbo engine, isn't one of them.
This 1976 BMW 2002 is certainly an iconic model. Its trademark kidney grille styling and trademark front fascia is still evident in every BMW produced, and its formula of a light, rear-wheel-drive, balanced chassis is one that the manufacturer still uses in all of its Ultimate Driving Machines. Although the 2002 was a great driver's car for the time, the top of the range 170-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four was far from fast. Thankfully, this one has been upgraded with a '98 Audi 1.8T engine, with the potential for producing more than triple the stock 2002 turbo's power output. The seller says it has a bigger turbocharger, some racing cams and other goodies that are as of yet undetermined, as well as upgraded brakes all around and lowering springs to keep the center of gravity lower to increase stability.
It's definitely worth a look, if only to see what a vintage German coupe can do with some modern German grunt behind it. If you can scoop it up for less than $5k and it's in decent running shape, it would be quite the steal.
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world's cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he's the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn't feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.