Karl Baur ----In a BMW Baur!

Don't ask me how I come up with these things!  It reminds me of the oft-quoted, but apochryphal, saying:

 "I'm a great believer in luck.  The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have."

Well, that seems to apply in the present case.  Look what I came up with while searching for pics to add to this blog and my new Pinterest page:

:

This is a pic of Karl Baur..... in the back seat of a BAUR!

Now THAT is what I call:  BAURSPOTTING!  :)

You don't get this stuff anywhere else, folks!  

Well.... except here, I suppose.  

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/baur-tc-iii-1571412395

:)

I love this stuff!  

Baurspotting Joins Pinterest!

First of all, let me say that I have not been a big fan of Pinterest.  I joined it about  a year ago, or so, but I find that I have hardly ever visited the place. I have always viewed it as just basically an eye candy site for whatever interest you may have, with little else to offer of any substance.  Which is fine, btw, if that is all you are looking for.  My wife uses it for decorating ideas, for example, and she finds a wealth of material there.  To each his own.

Yesterday, however, I stumbled on a great pic of a Rally Baur, which, as it turns out, had been posted to Pinterest.  I hadn't seen it posted anywhere else before yesterday, and believe me, I have looked at a lot of Baur pics!  Since the stated Mission of Baurspotting is to locate, identify and catalogue all the BMW Baurs, I have decided that I owe it to my readership to seek out any and all possible sources of Baur information.

 My initial intent was to re-actvate my Pinterest page, but I have a better idea:  I am actually starting a Baurspotting Pinterest page!   Yes, Baurspotting comes to Pinterest!  

I will also be checking out any other Baur-related pages that might exist out there, of course!

;)

So.... drum roll, please .... presenting "Baurspotting on Pinterest"!  

http://www.pinterest.com/tom82baur/baurspotting/

Please check it out. :)

Here is another Pinterest Baur page that I found, and it was the source of the "Rally Baur".  Leigh Valentine actually posted the pic, if I am not mistaken. 

 

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=BMW%20Baur

Below you will find a smattering of Baur pics gleaned from various Pinterest pages.  These pics generally have little or no information attached to them.   A lot of them are just borrowed from other sites with a minimum of attribution.  However if you click on the pic, you will go the site from which the pic was taken, which may, or may not, be the original picture, and you may be able to find additional information there.  Baurspotting, in keeping with our mission, will try to include more info on the pics, where it is available to us.

The examples below illustrate this.

This pic is from a BMW ad for their Classic shop, where they emphasize BMW's renewed interest in catering somewhat to the owners of classic and vintage models.

(... also on Baurspotting) 

Advertisement for the BMW 700 Convertible.  (... also on Baurspotting)

Ebay  (... also on Baurspotting)

Recently sold (fall 2013).  This pic was on Ebay (although both of these ebay pics were also on Baurspotting)

craigs list (... also on Baurspotting)

This pic is from an article in Eurotuner Magazine.  (... also on Baurspotting)

This is our friend Harry P.'s Baur.  (... also on Baurspotting)

 

Baurspotting has traced this Baur through 3 different owners, currently owned by Jesse N., in PNW.

BMW ad  (... also on Baurspotting)

BMW brochure  (... also on Baurspotting)

 

BMW Baur TC3, the only one ever built.

Early E21 Baur which I believe was used in early press releases.  (... also on Baurspotting)

I believe this one is in California.  (... also on Baurspotting)

Recently (2014) sold for $63,000 or so at Amelia Island Show.  (... also on Baurspotting)

This is a toy model of an E21 Baur.  I bought one myself off ebay.  :)  (... also on Baurspotting)

As you can readily see, we have already published a lot of this material on Baurspotting.  And much, much more, of course!  

Anyway, Pinterest will give us another opportunity to spread the word about our unique cars to a new audience.  We look forward to seeing you on our new Baurspotting Pinterest board, and we will make every effort to make it a little more informative than some of the other boards that we have seen.  

Stay tuned!

Baurspotting on Pinterest!

http://www.pinterest.com/tom82baur/baurspotting/

Munich Evolution Buys The Frank Stella M1 Art Car! Whoa!

Introducing the Peter Gregg/ Frank Stella BMW M1 Procar, the only BMW Art car not owned by BMW!

We saw that this car was sold at auction for:  Sold for US$ 854,000 inc. premium.

Well, we just found out where it went!  Our friend, Paul S., who does work for Peter Gleeson at Munich Evolution out in the Pacific Northwest, announced this morning in Facebook that Munich Evolution is the buyer of this M1!

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19363/lot/15/

Congratulations to Peter and Munich Evolution on this outstanding acquisition to add to their already amazing collection!  Including THIS one, btw:

Yeah, that's right:  another M1!  ;)  Nice

Thank you, Paul, for posting this!  And you will soon be seeing this car up close and personal!  Lucky you!  ;)

The Frank Stella M1 Art Car

We have blogged about this car on Baurspotting before:

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2013/07/frank-stella-bmw-m1-art-car.html

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2014/01/frank-stellas-m1-art-car-sold-at.html

TC1 Rally Baur in Europe!

I stumbled on these pics posted by Leigh V.  I am trying to learn more about this very cool rally Baur, and I will post here when I know more!

The quotes below the pics are the captions from Leigh. 

"Atop Mount Gavia in Italy...driving in the clouds :)"

"Our rally car in France alongside a fellow competitor"

Stay tuned for more!  

Tired TC2 Thornton Colorado Back on Craigs List! $1200

Thanks to 6pkfursure from bimmerforums for sending me the 'heads up' on this ad.  We saw this same ad in January, and once before that!  Perhaps he is ready to sell this time!  It is a project, apparently.  Seller says that it is not running, yet he also says that it can be 'jumped' and driven onto a trailer!  So it is not seized, but it will overheat 'after a few minutes".  

6pkfursure has looked at it:
" I've looked at the car.  Attached is a photo of the baur tag.   Car is rough.  Interior shot. Dashboard busted up.  No rear bumper.  Rear end damage.  Rust over wheel wells."

So caveat emptor, for sure. 

Looking for a project?  Grab this cheap, get it road worthy, and enjoy a fun car while you take your time finishing the restoration.  You will own a rare car that is a piece of BMW automotive history.  Did I mention that it is 5 speed E30, generally recognized as one of the best cars BMW ever built?  And a blast to drive?  Oh, yeah that too!  ;)

Baur Number 41215 (pic by 6pkfursure)

"I have a neat, rare BMW for sale. It's a 323i TC Baur. Before BMW started making 3 series convertibles, you could buy one converted by Baur in Germany then have it imported into the US. As such, it's a grey market car with all the euro goodies that BMW had to offer in 1984. These cars are rare and getting much more difficult to find. This is only the second one I've seen in my life. 

I've owned the car for about 3.5 years. Since it was imported it's been a Colorado vehicle. I've got receipts for this car for the past couple decades! I bought the car in fairly poor condition and sadly, I've not done anything to it. I'm tired of it taking up space in my garage so I'm offering it as an excellent parts car or a great vehicle to restore.

Info about the car:
- 1984 BMW 323i TC Baur (that's a mouthful! The 323 engine was the performance model for 1984 and is very similar to the 325 of that era).
- The top is two pieces. There is a center targa portion like a Honda Del Sol that stores in the trunk, then the back part folds down like a regular convertible. All the framework around the doors remain in tact once the top is folded down.
- Has all the euro goodies that was available at the time!
- Silver with blue interior (yay 80s!)
- 188k miles
- 5spd
- The car is water tight and can be stored outside.
- Clear title! Not salvage.

Things that are bad or that the car needs:
- Currently not running.
- Needs a battery
- Will overheat after a few minutes. I think the thermostat is not opening, but I haven't looked into it.
- Leaks oil from the oil pan. I have a new gasket for it but haven't done anything with it.
- No stereo.
- Cracked dash and windshield.
- Interior isn't in the best shape.
- Misc scratches and dings around the car.

This car will need to be towed away. It can be jumped and driven onto a trailer. All the tires hold air and I've only had to refill them once since I've owned it. 

As you can see, this car isn't perfect. I bought it because of how rare it was and had ambitions to restore / mod the car. I haven't touched it in 3.5 years! It's time to face the reality that I probably won't get around to working on this car. I'm looking to sell the car for $1200. I am pretty firm on the price. It's a pretty cool little car that just needs a weekend of love to be a great runner! If you feel the need to email with ridiculous "cash" offers (really? How else were you planning on paying?) please save you and me some grief. I'm just looking to sell the car outright and am not interested in trades or payments. If you're serious about owning a cool piece of BMW history please email me with you questions and / or phone number to schedule a time to see this car. Thanks for looking!

I understand that this car is pretty rare, but I will not sell it to an out of state buyer. I will not have the car shipped. I will only sell this car face to face. The car will need to be trailered home. If you want to bring in a trailer from another state and buy it, that's fine."

Thank you, 6pkfursure!

Now somebody go grab this!   ;)

Mike Ura's M1 Featured on Petrolicious!

Congrats to Mike Ura on this Petrolicious video featuring his car!  

Why is it here in Baurspotting, you might ask?  :)

You mean... besides that fact that it is a cool little video on a very cool car.....  right?

Well, as you may already know, Baur had a hand in this M1 project.   Although Lamborghini was initially contracted by BMW to build the car, financial problems forced them into bankruptcy.  The result of that was the M1 became more of a group effort with several manufacturers involved in the process, including Baur.*  

So Baurspotting is proud to promote the role that Baur played in the production of this marvelous car!  

Now, enjoy the video!  ;)

The M1 Is BMW's Solitary Supercar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdzKJ1DwG20&feature=player_embedded

Congrats, Mike!

*Although the M1 was formally announced soon after (January 1978), Lamborghini’s imminent bankruptcy finally forced BMW to cancel its contract on April 20, 1978. Under a new plan, Marchese would build the car's tube frame, TIR would mold the fiberglass, and then Ital Design would mate the two and install the interior. The cars would then be shipped from Italy to Stuttgart, where Baur, long a builder of BMW production prototypes, would in­stall the BMW hardware. BMW Motor­sports would do the final preparation in Munich—in fact, the car would carry a BMW Motorsports manufacturing plate.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-m1-trilogy-the-history-of-the-m1-feature

**1978 - 1981 Final assembly and completion of the BMW M1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karosserie_Baur

***(N.B.: Baur, which was established in 1910, produced, among others, 1682 1600-2 Cabriolets, 200 2002 Cabriolets, 2597 E110 700 Sport Cabriolets and most of the 450 or so M1's for BMW, after Lamborghini could not fulfil its contractual obligations.) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M1


ADDED BONUS TRACKS:
Video of Mike's M1 on the Dyno!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_bpcCo5EMo

Video of Mike M1, up close and personal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TumVUDSuc3g

M1 Registry Info:

NAME   Mike Ura MODEL   E26 M1 MODEL CODE   5991 VIN   WBS59910004301313 PRODUCTION DATE   November 1980 COUNTRY OF ORIGINAL SPECIFICATION   Germany EXTERIOR COLOR (PAINT CODE)   Red INTERIOR COLOR (UPHOLSTERY CODE)   Black cloth + leather ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT + COMMENTS 100% stock: Purchased from original owner with 14,000 miles.

http://www.bmwmregistry.com/detail.php?id=7705

M1 Registry:

E26 M1
R Evans WBS59910004301121 United States June, 1980 Frank Fahey WBS59910004301199 United States June, 1980 Neal Heffron VIN NOT VISIBLE United States June, 1980 Claes von Holten Lindholm VIN NOT VISIBLE Denmark October, 1980 Mike Ura WBS59910004301313 United States November, 1980 Clark Schaefer WBS59910004301326 United States November, 1980 Carlos de Quesada WBS59910004301336 United States December, 1980 Gregory Bradbury VIN NOT VISIBLE United States December, 1980 Dyke Morrissey WBS59910004301408 United States February, 1981

http://www.bmwmregistry.com/models.php?id=19