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 (!!!) :

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!

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:

Call me lazy

Haven't updated this for a while, so I'm going to make an effort to get anyone reading this (if anyone does), up to date.

As I mentioned on my previous post, I attended the Bimmermeet at Road Atlanta, part of the BMW CCA Oktoberfest festivities. Had a great time there on Friday and Saturday, and even got to see my daughter Michelle drive the track for the first time! I'm posting the pics slide show for your enjoyment.

Planning for October 11 meet in Patillas

Two members of the PR Classic Bimmer Group suggested an event for all BMW owners and went ahead and got a locale in Patillas, on the southeastern part of the island.

The date was set for October 11 and it looks like attendance will be great. We have gotten enough sponsors to be able to offer t-shirts to the first 100 owners who arrive in their BMW's, and will try to get more freebies to hand out.

I'll be posting pics here after the event.

I will also be attending the Bimmermeet at Road Atlanta on October 3. This is the last day of the BMW CCA Oktoberfest, and an invitation was extended to those of us who couldn't be there the whole week. Should be a fun day, since I have several of my mainland '02 buddies attending. We will bringing the Baur and Michelle's 635csi.

The Touring Project

Finally saw the touring!

Last weekend I took a trip to Atlanta to finally see it in the flesh (or rather, in the metal and rust). It IS quite rusty, but it IS a tii, and a touring to boot. So, after assessing its condition, I have determined that I'm gonna take a shot at restoring it. Plans are to make it a nice driver, not a concours beauty. It will probably be a long and arduous (and expensive!) process, but I am sure the end result will be well worth it. There is nothing like driving a tii, and I still miss the Chamonix '73 I sold over 20 years ago.

There is a possibility that the welding and bodywork can be done in Atlanta. Alex from Carma told me that he has a good friend, Jeff Chang, who is a great welder and might be able to take it on. I do heve new doors, left frond fender and nose panel which came from the car, but I will still need to get the right front fender and the uber-pricey quarter panels. It also will need rockers and quite a bit of welding in the floor area.

I will post updates as I progress in this journey.

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.