The First Baur: A Restoration Project Pictorial, Part VII

Today I want to point out some little known facts about the early Baurs that I learned from Andreas, in his work restoring the First Baur.  The pictures below basically chronicle some of the changes made to the Baur during the course of its development.

The first thing I want to point out is the difference in the appearance of the roll bar in the early stages of development vs. the appearance in the final production version of the Baurs:

Look closely at the "B" pillar roll bar in this photo above.  You will notice that the design pattern is a vertical orientation.  On the Baur below (the same car, by the way), these lines are horizintally oriented.  This photo above was taken during the development stages.

Here is the same car a little later in the design process, and you can clearly see the design on the "B" pillar is horizontal.

 A second interesting item that Andreas pointed out was that in the process of his restoration he found the following:

You can see the outline of the letters "H" and "C".  This is what he found when he removed the Baur Badge on the "B" pillar/ roll bar.  It is believed that this HC refers to "Hardtop Cabriolet".  you may recall that the Baur hardtop is a kind of 'targa' style roof.  However, Baur was unable to use the term "Targa" because Porsche owned the rights to the use of the term.  Instead, Baur chose the term TC for "Top Cabriolet". The imprint above seems to indicate that this "TC" was a shortened form of the original "Hardtop Cabriolet".

Here is the later, more familiar, badge on the E21 Baur.  Andreas found the HC underneath this badge.

Here you can see the "TC BAUR" badge on the "B" pillar of the later series E30 TC2 Baur.  This pic was taken by Amir K. at the SoCal Vintage Show in Van Nuys CA on October 29, 2011.
A third difference between the earliest and the later Baurs was in the operation of the hardtop.  Jeroen pointed out recently in E30 bimmerforums that the early tops could be partly raised and held in place, much like a tilt sunroof. 

If you look closely at the photo in the center of this ad you will see that the hardtop roof is slightly upraised, allowing air flow through the cabin, similar to the tilt-top feature of a sunroof.  The later Baurs do not have this option, although the E30 TC2 Baurs do have this feature.

Incidentally, all the cars shown in the pictures above, with the exception of the Baur badge picture and the red TC2, are the same car, Baur #00001 at different stages of development. 

Additionally, take a close look at the pictures above.  Although it is very hard to be sure, ..... it almost looks like the badge on the "B" pillar says "HC'.  You be the judge of that.        :)

The last item pointed out by Andreas is the hand stitched sun visor that he found in Baur #000001.  Now THAT is something you don't see very often!

Once again, I am grateful to Andreas for sharing the information above, and I am grateful for this opportunity to share it with all of you.

Coming Attractions:   Late last week I asked Andreas if he would consider sharing the story of how he came to find and restore the first Baur (#000001), and how he came to own the last Baur built ( #4595).   I suggested that he may be more comfortable telling the story in his native language, without worrying about translating it into English, and he could let me worry about getting it translated.  Andreas has graciously agreed, and over the weekend he sent me his story in German. 

So, the next installment will be Andreas's story, in his own words.  If you do not speak German, fear not!  I don't speak German either.  However, I am very fortunate to have a very talented nephew who DOES speak German, and he has enthusiastically agreed to help me out here.  I am very grateful to him for his help.   More on that next time, so .... stay tuned!