This is a 1965 BMW 1800 TI that is said to have been converted into a pickup in period and used by a BMW dealership as a service vehicle. Just two of these are said to have been made, and the location of the second is a mystery.
The BMW 1800 TI was a higher-performance version of the BMW 1800 that included a series of upgrades from tuning company Alpina. It was both faster and more powerful than its predecessor, and it offered better handling.
Fast Facts: A BMW 1800 TI Pickup
- This 1965 BMW 1800 TI pickup began life as a standard four-door sedan before being converted into a pickup-style utility vehicle by (or for) a BMW dealership, for use as a service car. Only two of these conversions are believed to have been made, and the whereabouts of the second example remains unknown.
- The BMW 1800 TI itself was a sportier variant of the BMW 1800, featuring upgrades by Alpina including twin Solex side-draft carburetors, a compression bump, and improved suspension. These changes improved performance, with power output increased to 110 bhp and 100 lb ft of torque.
- The pickup conversion gave the car an Australian-ute-style single cab with a long, deep cargo area accessible via the original trunk lid.
- This vehicle retains period-correct engine and transmission, and interior elements like a woodgrain dashboard and blue upholstery. Offered for sale in France via Car & Classic, it represents a unique piece of custom BMW history tied to the brand’s Neue Klasse era.
The BMW 1800 TI
The BMW 1800 debuted in 1963 as one of the most important early models in BMW’s Neue Klasse (New Class) line. These Neue Klasse vehicles had been designed from a blank slate to modernize the BMW model range and stave off bankruptcy, after the company had suffered a major financial crisis in the late 1950s.
The Neue Klasse BMWs had modern unibody shells, most had a standard three-box design with either two or four doors, independent front and rear suspension, and power was typically provided by a version of the venerable BMW M10 engine. Image courtesy of BMW Classic.
The Neue Klasse BMWs had modern unibody shells, most had a standard three-box design with either two or four doors, independent front and rear suspension, and power was typically provided by a version of the venerable BMW M10 engine. The M10 was an inline-four with an alloy block and head, a single overhead cam, and displacements ranged from 1.5 liters to 2.0 liters.
Interestingly, in the 1980s a highly-modified, turbocharged version of the M10, named the M12, would power a slew of Formula 1 cars for teams including Brabham, Arrows, and Benetton. Nelson Piquet would win the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in 1983 powered by the BMW M12 in the back of his Brabham BT52.
Long before this success in Formula 1, the M10 was powering the BMW 1800 – a three-box, four-door sedan with a displacement of 1800cc, hence the model name (though in actual fact the displacement was 1,773 cc).
The BMW 1800 was designed as a solid, dependable family car for the German people, and for the people of Europe as a whole. It would sell well, with almost 160,000 produced over its 1963 to 1971 production run.
There would be three main variants of the model offered: the original BMW 1800, the upgraded BMW 1800 TI, and the higher-performance still (but much rarer) BMW 1800 TI/SA – of which only 200 were made.
This vehicle now has a full rear cargo bed, with an Australian ute-style single front cab. The cargo area is covered, and it can be accessed through the original truck lid which opens to show a far deeper, longer trunk than the car would have had originally.
The BMW 1800 TI Pickup Shown Here
The vehicle you see here is the only example of its kind we’ve ever seen. The listing notes that it was built along with a second car to the same specification, each starting life as a BMW 1800 TI four-door sedan before they were turned into pickups.
The reason for this conversion was reportedly to allow the vehicles to work as service vehicles for a BMW dealership. BMW didn’t have any service vehicles in production at the time, with the vast majority of their vehicles being either automobiles or motorcycles.
The vehicle now has a full rear cargo bed, with an Australian ute-style single front cab. The cargo area is covered, and it can be accessed through the original truck lid which opens to show a far deeper, longer trunk than the car would have had originally.
As you would expect, power is provided by the M10 engine in 1800 TI (Turismo Internazionale) form, with twin Solex PHH dual-barrel side-draft carburetors and higher-compression pistons which boosted both horsepower and torque, though only modestly from 90 bhp and 90 lb ft up to 110 bhp and 100 lb ft.
Inside you’ll find seating for two, with a woodgrain dashboard, blue upholstery (that could use some attention), and a three-spoke black steering wheel.
Power is sent back to the rear wheels via a 4-speed manual gearbox, and the car has the anti-roll bar that was fitted as part of the 1800 to 1800 TI conversion. Inside you’ll find seating for two, with a woodgrain dashboard, blue upholstery (that could use some attention), and a three-spoke black steering wheel.
The car is now being offered for sale on Car & Classic out of Maine et Loire in France. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Car & Classic
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
