1982 BMW 323i Baur

1982 BMW 323i Baur
Memorial Day 2010 First Drive 1982 323i BMW Baur Lapisblau M20 5 speed #4154 of 4595 made. The car was imported to California by Dietel Enterprises. I have since changed the wheels, installed the clear turn signal lenses, and I am in the process of installing a new cabriolet roof. I have to do something about those bumpers, too. :) I love this car! To see one of the reasons why, check my post "Score One For the Good Guys" on 6/26/2011.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

WTF Dept: 518 Baur-Style Cabrio??

OK, folks. Thanks to our friend and fellow Baur owner Curtis Waller for posting this. But.... WTF is it? wink emoticon 518 Baur-style cabrio? Looks like a DIY to me. What do you think? Thoughts and comments are welcome!
UPDATE!  Thanks to Peter Vissers we have more pics of this car!*
 Curtis said he found it while surfing the Internet.  We do not have any other info on it.  It looks to me like homemade DIY job.  I do not see any attachment points for the rear soft top hinges, for example.













Thank you to Curtis for posting this!  Stay tuned!  We will post more when we know more about it.  We are trying to track it down !


*  New Pics from Peter Visser!  Thank you, Peter!




 Peter made the following comment about this today in Facebook:

" During the preparation of the annual Sharknosemeeting I was the contact person of the "for sale" section of the meeting.

 The owner of this car mailed us if it was possible to come with this car on a trailer to put it for sale. Of course he was more

 then welcome. He gave me the link to some pictures. The owner has the car in the South of Spain. The pictures you see 

are from that link."  Peter Visser

Thank you, Peter! 

Stay tuned!  ;) 

Congrats To Aiden H in South Africa!

Congrats to our friend and fellow Baur owner, Aiden H. in Capetown, South Africa!



Aiden posted the following in R3VLimited Facebook page today

"My BMW e30 TC2 Baur all the way from South Africa,Cape Town. Won Best Factory Stock Standard at BMW Fest 2015."




We have posted Aiden's Baur here before... so here are a few more pics!







Congratulations, Aiden!  BWR PWR!  ;)

Monday, June 15, 2015

Alan G's TC2 in Scotland!


Thanks and congratulations to Alan G of Scotland for posting these pics of his 1986 320i Baur with 36k miles in the BMW Baur Fan E30, E36, E38 Facebook page!  He sent the Baur plate pic today.  It is not yet listed in the International Baur Registry, so it qualifies as a NEW FIND! 

Congratulations, Alan!










































1986 320i Baur TC 36k miles

Thanks, Alan! 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=963564860341087&set=gm.432006740293997&type=1&theater

Nikos' US Spec E21 Baur For Sale in Vancouver!

Thanks to Odo van den B. for the 'heads up' on this special Baur for sale in Vancouver, BC!  It belongs to our friend Nikos M. in Canada.


 Why is it 'special"?  Well, we think ALL Baurs are special, of course, but this one is extra special. You may recall that we have written about this Baur previously here in Baurspotting*.  Below you will see the chart of the 25 US Spec Baurs that were officially imported to North America by BMW.  As you can see, 22 of those went to Canada, and this Baur is one of those 22!  
Scroll down the list about halfway, and look for "72522' in the second column.  that corresponds to the Baur plate number that you see below:  A2522-13.  This Baur is one of the few US Spec Baurs imported by BMW!
(Incidentally, we have now located a bunch of the 25 Baurs in the list above!)










"Hello, I am selling my 1981 Baur. One of the original north american specs car. All original with collector plates on it as you can see. Possible the only one left in Canada from that 19 cars that came. Only 130.000 km on it. Message me for details."
1981 Bmw Baur 320i
condition: excellent
fuel: gas
odometer: 130000
title status: clean
transmission: manual



Thanks, Odo!

Craigs list ad:
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/bnc/cto/5073301539.html

*Previous posts on this Baur:
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2014/05/nikos-baur-2522-found-another-baur-from.html

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2015/01/another-us-spec-baur-from-jeroens-list.html

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Now For Something Completely Different Department: Florida Art Car



This is not even remotely a Baur, but I stumbled on it today, so I thought I would share it!  :)   Here are two articles about it, from Hemmings and Wheels (NY Times), and the video, of course.  Enjoy!


FINNJET is up for sale!

Article from Hemmings Daily:


Antti Rahko just needed something to keep him occupied in his retirement years. While most recent Floridian transplants take up golf or maybe golf with the occasional afternoon of golf, the Finnish transplant decided instead to build one of the world’s most well-known art cars, the Finnjet, which he’s now put up for sale.
Not like he had that goal in mind right away. Rather, following his retirement in 1984, he began amassing chrome pieces and other shiny bits—mirrors, lights, bumpers, more lights, more mirrors—from trips to junkyards. Not until 2000 or so did he actually build a rig on which to install all those parts and pieces: a combination of two Eighties Mercedes-Benz W123 station wagons and a 1962 Imperial front end placed atop a tri-axle chassis with a dually axle in the center of the car and a Chevrolet truck front axle mounted at the rear, steering opposite the front wheels. A Mercedes-Benz turbodiesel engine powers the 29-foot laden limousine.
Inside, Rahko fitted the Finnjet—which he named after a famous Finnish turbine-powered ferry—with a microwave, freezer, television, two air-conditioning units and a functional sauna, all fed by three batteries and three alternators. But it’s the exterior of the Finnjet that attracts the most attention, with parts from an estimated 40 different cars, 36 mirrors, 86 lamps, various turbine housings, wings, chrome bumpers, strakes, hubcaps, a space shuttle and a continental kit for good measure.
For his efforts, Rahko has won first place in the Houston Art Car Parade—perhaps the world’s largest art car event—three times, but he built it to drive rather than show, and he’s reported mileage in the mid-20s thanks to the turodiesel. He’s also been invited to show it overseas at the Essen Motor Show a couple years back.
While he did list the Finnjet for sale about five years ago for $950,000; he has since lowered the asking price to $100,000 in an ad for the car that appears in the July 2015 issue of Hemmings Motor News.
- See more at: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/06/08/finnjet-the-only-car-with-a-chrome-bill-bigger-than-its-gas-bill-comes-up-for-sale/?refer=news#PhotoSwipe1434303989917

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/06/08/finnjet-the-only-car-with-a-chrome-bill-bigger-than-its-gas-bill-comes-up-for-sale/?refer=news#PhotoSwipe1434303989917



Jorma Puranen Antti Rahko with the Finnjet, which he built from two Mercedes-Benz station wagons and more than 40 other vehicles.
The fantastically frivolous Finnjet probably won’t be taking off for a new home anytime soon.
The 29-foot 7,500-pound limousine, built and owned by Antti Rahko of Palm Beach County, Fla., was recently offered for sale on eBay. But the auction ended with a high bid of $10,000, which was not enough to meet the reserve. Only 11 bidders submitted offers for the massive machine, which was built by joining two Mercedes-Benz 300 station wagons and includes parts from more than 40 other vehicles.
With interior equipment ranging from a microwave oven to a sauna, and adornments that include 86 lights and 36 mirrors, the unusual vehicle has been a favorite of art car enthusiasts. However, it was apparently not coveted by anyone with pockets deep enough to buy it. In an earlier auction, the reserve price was set at $950,000. The reserve for the recently completed auction was not published.
According to Mr. Rahko’s nephew Juha Rahko, the car will not be re-listed on a Web auction site any time soon. Mr. Rahko does hope that all the publicity generated by the sales attempts will eventually help him find a buyer.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/the-finnjet-art-car-fails-at-auction/?_r=0

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Baur Gets a Mention in August 2015 Bimmer Magazine!

OK, so Baur was not the focus of the article.  But I loved reading the interview, and it didn't hurt that Baur gets a mention!  ;)

Kudos to Jackie Jouret, Matt Russell and BIMMER Magazine for a great interview with Jochen Neerpasch in the August 2015 issue.  He founded BMW Motorsport, and created the 3.0CSL and the M1.  Not bad for 7 years work! He also gave the OK to artist Alexander Calder to paint the BMW 3.0 CSL race car.  The first BMW Art Car was born.  In the interview, Neerpasch mentions that the M1 was assembled at Baur.  ;)  Great interview!






 Jacky Ickx - Jochen Neerpasch -Ronnie Peterson.
 Poulain's 3.0CSL race car, painted by Alexander Calder.  Why is this here?  Neerpasch created the 3.0CSL and gave the OK for Calder to paint this car.  
 Oh, Lordy!  Neerpasch with Hans Joachim Stuck!
Neerpasch with the Lichtenstein Art Car.  
"In 1977 Roy Lichtenstein turned a BMW 320i into a piece of his art that was driven by Poulain and Mignot at Le Mans 24-hour race and finished 9th overall and first in class.
When Lichtenstein was drafting his Art Car, he spent a long time thinking about all the things that happen to a car.
I love these old black and white photos.  Great shot. 

I don't have a link for the Bimmer Magazine article..... I just got my copy in the mail.  And I don't know if you can get it online now.  I don't subscribe to many print magazines anymore.  A lot of their stuff is old by the time it hits the newsstands in this age of the Internet.  But I do subscribe to Bimmer.   Even Baurspotting  beats them to the punch all the time.  But their forte is doing stuff like this.  And I love it.  

Kudos Jackie Jouret and Bimmer Magazine!

http://www.bimmer-mag.com/issues/132

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Small Baur/Lumma World: Todd K Spots A Cabrio in Plympton MA

Readers may recall that we did a post about a month ago on a 1502 Lumma Conversion Cabrio that we found listed for sale on a UK site, but located around Boston.  We have known about  this Lumma for several years, and had even attended BMW Day at Larz Anderson Museum in Brookline, MA with the owners.  Here is a pic from that event:
Three Baurs and a Lumma 1502 Cabrio at Larz Anderson BMW Day August 2013
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2015/05/1502-lumma-cabrio-relisted-for-sale.html

I had posted this in 2002 bimmerforums at the time, and the other day ToddK posted the following in response:
Thats either the same one or very similar to one that was sitting outside at a body shop on rte 58 in Plympton mass last fall. Shop owner said he was going to do a full restoration on it for the owner. It was in a state somewhere between driver and needing full restoration, but sitting outside in the elements was making the car deteriate even faster. There was nothing about the car that made me want it. It looked like a total money pit.  Fit and finish were terrible. Everything about the car was a contradiction. Had 2002 badges but had a 1600 engine. VIN and model year made it a square tail light car, but it had rounds.   -----ToddK

Todd had not taken any pics, so it was hard to draw any firm conclusions without more info.    Strange to think that there could be TWO such rarities in the same general locale, but his description did not sound like a car that would be advertised for $25,000!  

So I responded:
That is interesting, Todd. If it was the fall of 2014, then it probably wasn't this Lumma, although the owners do live in that general area. This one is badged 1502, for one thing, and it has been restored to the condition shown for a couple of years already. The group pic above, for example, is from 2013.  

Very curious that it would have the taillight conversion, like this one. But this restoration was done about two years earlier. Any info on the shop owner... name location, etc? Perhaps I could contact him to inquire. Curious minds want to know!  


ToddK did a drive by later that day and reported back:
It was at competition auto body. The owner of the shop was a bit of a jerk. I went in to try and get an estimate to paint a car I have that was all prepped and ready to paint. It was getting too cold for me to squirt it in my garage, so I figured I'd ask. He gave me a ridiculous go the F away price after he made me wait for an hour for him to show up. Kept saying he was right around the corner, wait for me. He was not very forthcoming with info on the 2002. I got the feeling it was going to be a real cash cow for him. It was parked on the dirt next to the cranberry bog adjacent to the lot. It sat there for several months that I can remember. Not sure what happened to it once all the snow started falling. You can do the google earth thing, but it doesn't show up in the driveby pictures. At least you can get an idea of the place it was at. I have to head up that way and get some more food for my chickens. I'll drive by and see if its still there, but I'm not going back in that place,,, ever.

- - - Updated - - -

Wasn't there.


Using the info from Todd, I called the shop this afternoon.
Baurspotting:
Bingo, ToddK! Small Baur World strikes AGAIN! I called Competition Auto Body this afternoon. He said that yes he had the car until about a month ago. The customer took it home after waiting all winter for him to get around to fixing a 'few things', nothing major, he said. He said that he felt bad but he never got the time to do the work. Then he offered to get me the owner's info, since I told him about my blog, and that we were trying to track all the cabrios down. he thought that it was an aftermarket conversion, not a factory Cabrio. Hmmm, I thought.  


I immediately recognized the name and number he gave me as the same guy who owns the 1502 Lumma that is the focus of this thread. It was the same car as you see in the pics above! Good eye, Hawkeye!   

It is simply amazing how many times this has happened, and testimony to the rarity of the BMW cabrios and Targas: someone spots a car that initially seems to be a new find..... and it turns out that we already know the car here in Baurspotting! It is getting harder and harder to come up with "New Finds"---- although it does still happen---- but not with the frequency of the past couple of years. That also tells me that we are getting near a top: we have plucked most of the low-hanging fruit, and now our task is to find the Baurs that are hidden away in someone's barn, garage, etc.!  

Thanks for posting this, Todd! Great find!  




Small Baur/Lumma World strikes again!  Thanks for posting ToddK!


Here is a link to our thread in bimmerforums:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2181766-Boston-Area-Alert-1502-Lumma-Cabrio-Relisted-For-Sale!&p=28598281#post28598281