Photo of the Day 2/24/11

Beautiful Touring rally car from Spain.

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 (!!!) :

Touring Update

Work continues to progress slowly but surely on the touring. Lack of funds is the main thing slowing it down, However, this was meant to be a long-term project from the start, so there is no rush.

The new trunk floor has been installed, and welding has started in other areas. Hopefully the economy will improve soon, and it can be moved along at a faster pace.

Here are the latest pics:

End of June Touring Update

Well, my daughter finally sent some pics of the touring's progress. All the rusty metal has been cut out from the rear and a new trunk floor has been ordered from BMW. Previous repairs in the rear shock towers have been removed so they can be re-done properly.

The rear valance was quite ugly, so it was cut off, and another was removed from a regular '02 to see if it can be made to fit. This '02 also donated other parts of its body, including the Hofmeister kinks.

Maybe I'll get another update soon, but I expect to travel to Atlanta in the middle of August and should have a more thorough update then.

Hopefully by the next update we will see new metal added to the car so it can start taking shape again.

It's unfortunate that the car is half an ocean away and I can't be doing any work on it. Hopefully I can be there when reassembly begins, which is the most fun part of any project.



In other news, I created a message Board in Spanish for Classic BMW owners in Puerto Rico. It has been slow to catch on since I started it a week or so ago, but hopefully it will become a great resource for Bimmerheads like me in the island.

Here's the link:

http://prclassicbimmer.forumotion.net/index.htm

The touring arrives in Atlanta!

After a few hits and misses, the touring finally arrived in Atlanta last Thursday (3/5). My son sent me some pics, but I will have to wait until I go there to evaluate its condition and decide what will I do with it. I would love to restore, but it all depends on the extent of the rust.

If I decide to restore it, I will probably bring it to Puerto Rico, since the restoration would be a lot less costly here, even taking into account the transportation costs and the darn Puerto Rico Excise Tax.

Here goes nothing!

Welcome to my blog!

I will try to keep a record here of my adventures as an owner of several older BMW's. I bought my first one, a 1970 1600-2, back in 1978, and have always owned at least one since then. I currently live in Puerto Rico, but travel frequently to the US mainland, so my hobby has taken roots there also.

Our stable currently includes:

• 1976 2002 - Bought this one in sad condition back in 1991 and did a complete restoration back in '92. Still looks decent, and I continually am doing mods to it. Hope to be able to repaint it again soon. This one is in Puerto Rico.
  
• 1972 2000tii touring - I just got this one (January 2009) and it needs a total restoration. If it were a regular 2002 it might be better as a parts car, but being that it's a touring AND a tii, I will try to bring it back to life. It might be years before this happens, though. The car is currently in Arkansas.
  
• 1981 Baur 320/6 - This one lives at my daughter's in Atlanta. Bought it in June 2008 and is in decent, but not concours condition. Currently getting all the mechanical work taken care of at Carma Motorsports in Atlanta (brakes, timing belt, tune up). This is a fun car to use on my frequent trips to the ATL.
• 1982 320i - This car has been in the family for four years. Needs paint, but the mechanicals are in great condition. Used by my son as a daily driver here in Puerto Rico.
• 1986 325 - Previously used by my daughter for college here in Puerto Rico, we sold it when she moved to Atlanta, but bought it back in 2008. It is automatic and is also a daily driver.
• 1993 325i - This one is also automatic and is my daughter's daily driver.

I will provide info on each of the above rides as I go along on this blog. In the meantime, thanks for checking it out!