1:24 BMW 2002 Bonnet

The car the 3 Series grew out of

The two-door 02 series sedan arrived in 1966 as a shortened, lightened version of the Munich middle class of the day and quickly became an unexpected commercial success. The version with the two-liter four-cylinder, introduced two years later, had a combination of qualities the competition of the time did not offer: low weight, a stiff body, rear-wheel drive and an engine with enough power across the whole rev range. Cars of this line ran in touring car racing, filled city streets and tuning shows alike, and in 1973 one of the first European series automobiles with a turbocharger came out of them. The long hood with four cooling air outlets behind the front end is among its most memorable features.

What a separate hood brings

Most kits have the hood molded in one piece with the body. Anyone who wants to show the engine has to cut it out, which means a loss of material at the cut, crooked edges and several hours of work with filler. A separate part gets around this step: the opening in the body is merely opened up along the engraved lines and the hood is laid on top.

Hinges, a prop and the width of the gap

Before gluing, check that the hood meets the body all round; a small amount of play will be evened out by an inserted strip of plastic. The hinges can be made from wire bent into the shape of a U, fixed from below into two supports. If you want the hood propped open, allow for a rod resting against the edge of the engine bay, as the real car has. Finally pick the gap out with a dark wash, so that it is visible even once painted. The package does not replace the bodywork, the engine or any other parts.