Baurspotting: FOUR Generations of Baurs at Bav Auto Show October 7 2012!

Bavarian Auto held their Fall Show and Shine yesterday, October 7, 2012 at their headquarters in Portsmouth, NH. And what a show it was! The entire parking lot was chock full to the brim, and the overflow crowd of cars lined both sides of Constiutution Avenue for maybe a quarter of a mile in both directions! This was a huge turnout, and the weather was on its best behavior, despite dour predictions to the contrary!

Huge thank you to Bavarian Auto for putting on such an outstanding event..... and, incidentally, it should be noted that this was a benefit for the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, btw. Did I mention that they fed everybody for free??? Hot dogs, knockwurst, hamburgers, chips, cookies, watermelon, soft drinks, water and even Smutty Nose beer! They did suggest a donation for the Komen foundation, ----no pressure ------ and I just hope that folks responded generously, because this was just outstanding all the way around.

Another huge thank you to the '02 guys and gals--- man, these folks BRING a crowd and DRAW a crowd! We planned a little Baur roundezvous near the Taco Bell ---the FORMER Taco Bell, as it turns out----so that we could arrive at Bav Auto together, and hopefully park together. So did the Northeast '02ers. So by about 7am we had 10 or 15 cars gathered in the now combined group, and we headed out en masse for the show site a little while later. The '02ers had by far the biggest numbers in our group, but we did have three Baurs, representing three different generations of Baurs: Dave T's 2002 Baur Targa, my 1982 323i E21 TC1 Baur, and Ed P.'s E30 TC2. Our group also included Roger N.'s NK 2000. Both Ed P., on behalf of the Baurs, and the "02ers had spoken to Bav Auto ahead of time, and Bav Auto had agreed to accomodate our desire to park together.

AND... our Baurs got a mention and Three pics (!) in the Bavarian Autosports blog !

With over 1,200 enthusiasts in attendance, all went smoothly and everyone had a great time. Many had their first opportunity to see rare BMWs such as an original 3.0 CS Alpina, a BMW 700, a few Baur convertible conversions, early Euro market models, BMW race cars and so much more!

http://blog.bavauto.com/12451/bavarian-autosport-show-and-shine-2012-bavauto-photos-and-more/

The Great Baur Awakening Continues!

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-great-baur-awakening-begins-our.html

But I was not prepared for the sight that greeted us on our arrival at the site: the gates did not appear to be open yet, from what I could see from my place in the line.... and both sides of the street were lined with BMWs as far as you could see! So our group of perhaps 20 cars simply stopped in the street and waited! The shoulders on both sides of the road were already completely filled, and since we could not enter the gate.... we had no place to go! Then I could see some movement: the cars lining the shoulder on the other side of the street, and the other side of the gate, were slowly moving inside the grounds. Luckily, there was no other traffic on the road at the hour, because there was only one lane open for the two way traffic to pass!

And that one open lane was also shared with pedestrians!

(The two pics above from Ed P.)

This shot along with the 3 shots preceding Ed's pics (above) were from Scott S. of Nor'East 02ers, whom I was lucky enough to be positioned in front of in the entrance line! Thank you, Scott! I owe you Big-Time! ;)

A little while later the word went out that the "02s were going to be allowed to enter ahead of everybody else, and our line started moving. We had originally hoped that we could arrange to have the three Baurs park together to show the generational progression from '02 to E21 to E30, but the parking was such a major operation---- getting everyone backed in closely spaced.... that we decided to forego that additional hassle. We were only spread out a few cars apart anyway. Having the three Baurs together would have really been perfect, but.... we will work on that for a future event.

But we were shortly in for a big--- and very pleasant ---- surprise: a FOURTH Baur turned up.... and it represented a FOURTH generation of Baur! We didn't see THAT coming, but it is just the kind of thing we were hoping for!!

There were also three more Baur owners present on Sunday, but they did not bring their Baurs. So technically we had 7 Baur OWNERS present, but only 4 actual Baurs physically on the premises. Still, by having 4 generations present, that in itself is an amazing accomplishment.

But first... here are our three Baurs that came in together:

This is Dave T.'s beautiful 2002 Baur Targa:

This one made the Bav Auto Blog!

Dave T and his friend, John D. awaiting entry to Bav Auto.

Baurspotting and Son look over Dave's Targa close up for the first time.

Ed (THEPOOLEMAN) with his sharp M-Technic 323i TC2 Baur:

I believe that is Davey101 from bimmerforums, if I am not mistaken. Gotcha! ;)

We had a bit of fun with this nice couple who first stated that they 'didn't get' the Baur. So, Ed started to explain to them how he built it himself, drawing ooohs and aahhs, ... but then I jumped in and gave them my little spiel on the Baur as a historical artifact and product of the time when convertibles appeared on the verge of extinction due to safety concerns, etc., etc., ..... pointing out the built-in roll bar and finishing with a flourish by stripping off my jacket to show them the back of my t-shirt: the 4 Cars in One graphic!

BAM!

;)

By the time we finished this conversation, we were all laughing, they were snapping pictures, and .... who knows, we may have made some converts! I think they get it now! It was great fun!

Three Amigos: my son Brian at left, me and Ed P. with the Baurspotting Baur behind us.

Yes, I know it needs paint....

.....and perhaps a little detailing in the engine compartment wouldn't hurt either. BTW, my odometer stopped at 242,000 miles somewhere between 2003 and 2010, when I became the owner. I am sure we are pushing 300K here! And this is a Daily Driver, folks!

Thanks to Ken Avery for alerting me to this great pic on the Bav Auto blog!

This pic was taken just as we were departing the show. Ambient temp was 55-60, I would guess. We are hard-core Baur: we drove the 175 miles home just like this! Top down, light rain most of the way requiring wipers.... and we stayed dry! ;)