The terrorists in question were the Bader-Meinhof gang, whose favoured stolen wheels were BMW 2002s – some jokers called them Bader-Meinhof Wagens, leading many owners to deploy bumper stickers denying any link with the gang – and though this gave BMW an unfortunate reputation for some, among the young it gained an appealingly raffish image. It is also the car that put BMW on the map in America.