Back in 1978, a German tuning house by the name of Karosserie Baur GmbH decided to turn the humble BMW E21 323i into a 'Baur Top Cabriolet'.
While they haven't got a reputation to match the likes of Alpina or AC Schnizter, Karosserie Baur gained quite the following for their work with BMW models, and is still producing modified German vehicles today.
A total of 4,595 Baur Top Cabriolets were produced in Germany between 1978 and 1981, and were sold with a BMW warranty. Out of this total number, it is unknown as to how many made their way to our shores, but we can't imagine that there are many.
This particular example started its life in South Africa, and made its way to New Zealand just five years ago according to Carjam.
Taking a regular E21 Cabriolet, with BMW's blessing, Baur gave it an adjustable top that looks quite complex. It is made up of a hard section that follows the original body lines of the car, and a soft section that can be adjusted.
According to Baur, there are four possible positions that the roof can be set to, but it looks like windows up, and windows down are two of these — ground breaking stuff.
Besides the roof modifications, a set of chrome fender flares are the only other non-factory parts that are on this E21. With only 187,000 Ks on the clock, the sub $10,000 asking makes for quite the deal.
Considering the price of good condition E30 models are being driven up by Tokyo Drift fans on the daily, rarer E21 models are unsurprisingly following in their footsteps.
If you want to snap up this rare piece of German motoring history, this car is listed on our site, take a look at it here.