The Chamonix white perfectly compliments both items, being inoffensive and vintage. That’s one of the reasons why, looking at the pictures, it seems that we’re back in the ‘70s, when the cars had a truly beautiful silhouette, and were built from more metal and less plastic than these days.

The 2002’s story is narrated by its owner, which also restored it: Jeff Tighe. In this condition, it values $55.000. Useless to say – it’s perfectly preserved. Outside – it’s restored to the original look. There’s also this pair of fog lamps, which adds style to the front grille.

Inside, the Recaros bring the luxury of our days into the ‘70s atmosphere, without being too intrusive. The black, perforated leather floods the seats and the door cards, while the bucket seats keeps the driver in position, during the tight corners. Wood trim, steering wheel and shift knob adds color in this sea of black, while the chromed elements bring a touch of sportiveness.

There’s a lot of sportiveness under the hood, though. The old, but charming original powertrain has been replaced by a much more powerful E30 M3 engine, boosting 195 PS from a 2.3 liter displacement. If equipping the E30 generation, it accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 235 km/h (146 mph), you can imagine what it can do placed in this tiny coupe…

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It has been many decades since Alpina first started collaborating with BMW to bring the ultimate driving machine up a few notches.

One of the first models they worked on was the 2002ti, and when they were done fiddling with it, it was pretty impressive. Most other vehicles were simply inferior, and for good reason. Now, BMW and Alpina are bringing a restored 1970 Alpina 2002ti to the 2014 Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion.

This comes as a pleasant surprise for all those that will attend the event, an event where the new 2015 Alpina B6 xDrive Gran Coupe will be introduced to the US market. In its restored form, the Alpina 2002ti is capable of delivering 220 Hp from its 2.0 liter engine, while only weighing 902 kg. If you want to see exactly what that means, get over and see it driven by Sam Smith, Road and Track Executive Editor on the Laguna Seca circuit.

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Fact is, I don’t know if I should like or hate it, as there are plenty good things thrown in with the bad.

It is nice that the owner decided to put in a 5.0 liter V8 engine taken from a Mustang, and the overall condition of the vehicle seems good. It even has limited slip differential and hydraulic steering, and the BMW 2002’s engine has a nice round sound to it, so you shouldn’t expect it to give out in a middle of an intersection.

On the other hand, I tend to think that the owner is lacking slightly in styling taste… to put it mildly. The combination of a green bottom half and wood-panel brown on the top is just repelling, and the interior has been stripped of all that could provide pleasure. While the Recaro seats are indeed a nice touch, their color in combination with the orange interior would make me always speed just to avoid curious looks.

The exhausts, while providing a decent soundtrack, are way too “bling” for its own good, but if you like a peculiar BMW 2002, this might just be yours.

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