Time to Begin a New Project

Well, most of the funk associated with the selling of the 2002 is gone, so I have decided to start a new project.

My son recently bought himself a new Toyota Yaris, so the 320i he was using as a daily driver is in my hands again. It needs a lot of TLC, but I plan to make it look and perform nicely again, trying to minimize expenses along the way.

Here's a slide show of the starting point of this project. I will try to update this blog as I go along.

The Schwarz 2002 is gone... :-(

After owning it for 19 years, I sold the Schwarz 2002 on 10/26/10. It was a very tough decision to make, but I had to make it.

I had lots of good times with the car, and made some great friends while attending events with it, and hopefully the new owner will enjoy it as much as I did.

I will use the Schwarz 320i now locally, and will be fixing it up as the budget allows. The Baur will remain in Deltona, FL for now, and the touring will continue its indefinite hibernation at the storage facility in the Atlanta area.

Here's a picture taken when the new owner took it home:



And a slideshow of pics taken throughout its 19 years here at home:

Second Yearly PRCBG Family Outing Was a Success!

On 10/10/10 the Puerto Rico Classic Bimmer Group had its second yearly Family Outing. Weather was great and we had a total of 134 BMW's, its owners and their families at the event. It was a lot of work for those of us organizing the event, but its success is very gratifying.

Here's a slideshow of the meet:

Photo of the Day - TurboLook '02 Touring

BMW never built a turbo touring, but this "phantom" one built in Europe looks like as if they did. I love it!

New Online Magazine : Vintage BMW

This online mag was created by my friend Scott Sturdy, the man behind The Vintage (formerly Vintage at the Vineyards). Great way to keep yourself informed about this great event. To see it, please click on the name below:

VINTAGE BMW

Moving the Atlanta Bimmers

As I mentioned on my last post, I had to move the two cars I had in Atlanta.

On Wednesday 8/25/10, I flew to Atlanta and spent the next day moving the touring to a Public Storage facility (a grueling process that took me all day, with about six trips in the Baur filled to the brim with parts). Here is how it sits now until further notice:

The next day, Friday, I hopped into the Baur and made the 8 hour, almost 500 mile drive from Atlanta to Deltona, FL. The trip went smoothly, and the Baur never missed a beat. I arrived at my friend Ricky's house at around 7:00 PM. I will keep the car at his house until I can ship it to Puerto Rico.

On Saturday, Ricky and I drove around in the Baur and went to the Cars and Cafe meet, which is celebrated the last Saturday of the month in Sanford, FL. Lots of high-priced metal there, including an ugly chrome Bugatti cabrio allegedly worth $1.9 million (!!!) :

Retreating and Regrouping

Well, seems that the economic situation, at least for me, is going to take longer than expected to improve, so I have decided to take some measures.

By the end of this month Iexpect to have the stalled touring tii project placed in a storage facility in Atlanta, the Baur at a friend's house in Orlando, and the Schwarz 2002 up for sale.

Plans are to bring the Baur to Puerto Rico after selling the 2002 and do a rolling restoration to it. The touring will stay stored until I can either re-start the process or sell it.

I will provide updates to this as things happen. It hurts to make these type of decisions, but more difficult ones have become frequent due to the economic situation.

Miguel Alejandro's Inka Roundie

In addition to posts about my cars, I will continue to feature interesting local BMW's. There is a good number of nice Bimmers here in Puerto Rico.

This one is Miguel Alejandro's restored roundie. He bought it needing a complete resto, and has done a great job with it. He did most of the work himself.

Here are some pictures of the car as it looks now, and some "before" ones:

Pedro Rodriguez' M42-Powered 2002

Had a chance to check out my buddy Pedro from Mayaguez' recently completed M42 project. In addition to the engine and transmission, he also used the radiator and most of the brakes from the donor car, a 1991 E30 318is.

The car has been mostly sorted out, and Pedro took it that day for a pretty long drive from Mayaguez to San Juan and back.

Here are some pics:

Vintage at the Vineyards 2010

Another great event! Had a wonderful time during Memorial Day weekend. A total of 304 BMW's attended, and many new friends were made.

On Thursday, May 27th, my wife Maria, my daughter Michelle and I drove from Atlanta to Dobson, NC in my Baur. Original plans were to take both the the 635csi and the Baur, but the Sixer's front struts were shot.

On the way we stopped at the Zentrum in BMW's factory in SC.



Then we stoppet at the Charlotte, NC airport, where we met up with Humberto Marti, who was picking up Fernando Vargas from Colombia.

We finally made it to Dobson after a quite exhausting trip due to the heat.

Friday morning we participated in a great drive up the NC and VA mountains, driving Humberto's 2002.

The big event was on Saturday, but not before I had a chance to drive Tim Jones' M2.It was an experience of a lifetime to drive this well-sorted beast!



The event itself was spectacular. Great weather, beautiful cars and many good friends.

Here are all my pics:

I'm already planning for next year!

Here again

Three months and no posts! How lazy can I get.

Not much has happened Bimmer-wise in that period, other than the fact that I have been trying to thin out the herd by selling either the Baur E21 or the Schwarz 2002.

Although there has been some interest, there have been no takers. The way I figure it is that each car is in the wrong market for selling. The Baur, being an open-top car, might sell better in Puerto Rico than in Atlanta, and the 2002 seems to have more enthusiasts in the mainland than in the island. Oh well....

Next week I will be attending the Vintage at the Vineyards 2010 event. I will make it a point to report here with pictures.

Puerto Rico Vintage Car Show 2010

Went on Saturday, February 13 to the yearly vintage car show at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan. Attendance was much lower than in previous years, but, as always, there were many nice cars.

Check out the pics I took there:

I'm Still Here!

Hi to all! Sorry about the lack of updates, but there is not much going on with my BMW's lately.

The economic downturn has meant significant salary and benefit cuts from my employer, so paying bills and putting food on the table doesn't leave much for car stuff.

The touring is still at Carma, and , although work on it is on hold, I hope to resume the project as money becomes available. I thought about selling either the Baur or the Schwarz 202 to use the funds on the touring, but I like both cars too much. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but I'm holding on to them for now.