On the Car that Saved BMW

There's an interesting article about the BMW 700--ie, the Car That Saved BMW--in the Sydney Central. Apparently, back in the 50s, BMW was not the cultural icon that it is today. At the time, it was a motorcycle manufacturer, but the motorcycle business was going south pretty rapidly. The company's automobile manufacturing business was also tanking, and things looked fairly bleak.

Enter the BMW 700. By using as much of the previous model--the 600--as possible and redesigning where necessary, BMW was able to come up with a unique, compelling car. And in the center of it all, we find--a bevel gear differential:

Further features carried over from the BMW 600 were the all-synchromesh four-speed transmission as well as the bevel gear differential and, the flat-twin power unit originally used on BMW motorcycles and now increased in size from 600 to 700cc.

The newly introduced 700 was a success, and the now-legendary automaker got a second chance at life.