Soon after an ad appeared in the local paper for a 3.0 in excellent shape for what I thought to be a reasonable $5,500. Even though I didn't have quite that much available, I decided to go take a gander. One look and I was head over heals! Its light blue paint and dark blue leather hides were exactly like the one that got me hooked way back in my youth. I climbed inside and out, unconcerned with the gaping hole of what used to be metal in the trunk, and went through a thousand creative purchasing scenarios in the space of 20 minutes.
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| When the time came to finally drive the car of my dreams, I put all of the 180-hp 3.0-L inline 6 to work. (Photo: www.bmw6er-club.com) |
Choosing not to pass up the opportunity to finally get behind the wheel of the car I'd been dreaming about for more than 20 years I jumped into the driver's seat, turned the ignition key and thrilled at the 3.0-L inline 6-cylinder's blatting exhaust note. Pulling down the alley and out onto the street, the clutch surprisingly well modulated for a 1973 model year car, I feathered the accelerator to get a feel for its sponsiveness. Immediately the car shot forward, all 180-hp raring to charge at my command.
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| Its 180-hp 3.0-L sounded as sweet at full throttle as it felt pulling me back into my seat. (Photo: www.bmw6er-club.com) |
Once fully warmed, I commanded. I had read that when new the coupe was capable of reaching 60 mph (96.6 km/h) in only 8 seconds, and it didn't seem like it took much more than that as it roared to 6,500 rpm, even though the speedometer showed 72,000 miles. BMW's 3.0-L engine offers up quite a bit of torque too, causing little need to shift up and down through the gears for the desired output. Power is simply there when called upon.