BMW BOXER - 100 JAHRE FASZINATION (BAND 3)

After years of decline, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the motorbike industry experienced a worldwide revival. Young people discovered the motorbike as an ideal vehicle for fun, sport and adventure.

In 1969, just in time for this trend reversal from utility vehicles to leisure motorbikes, BMW presented the 750 cc two-cylinder boxer R 75/5 with two complementary versions, a completely newly developed series that did justice to the modern attitude to life and was immediately successful.

The move to sporty or more extravagant motorbikes was fuelled by the cultural change at the time, which gave rise to films like "Easy Rider". For BMW's motorbike division, it marked a rescue from ruin.

The motorbike renaissance was accompanied by a steadily growing demand for particularly high-displacement motorbikes, which BMW satisfied in the Seventies with legendary models such as the design icons R 90 S, the R 100 RS, or the long-distance boxer R 100 RT. The 600 and 750 models disappeared from the programme and were replaced by 800 models like the R 80/7 or the R 80 RT.

However, with the R45/65 models of 1978, the Bavarians once again launched a series aimed at those for whom half a litre of displacement (or slightly more) was sufficient. In addition to the shaft drive, all the boxer models of this period had in common the typical long rear fork with two suspension struts.

This technical feature is a common element in the selection of models in this third volume, BMW Boxer - 100 Jahre Faszination - Band 3: die Renaissance, following the first two.

The author Hans-Jürgen Schneider tested all Boxers of the period and illustrates over 20 models in detail with exclusive material from the BMW archive. Prototypes are also covered, as well as the sensational 'Future' of 1980.

Competition also finds considerable space. Countless victories in road and off-road racing, as well as in the Paris-Dakar Rally, and many world championships with racing teams allowed the blue and white BMW brand logo to shine once again.

Like the previous two volumes, this one also includes all technical data and a comprehensive index. Text in German.

240 pages and more than 500 pictures.