Thursday, October 31, 2013

Baur -Type TVR Spotted!

Thanks to fellow Baur owner Michael Behman for reminding me of this car. Michael spotted a TVR Targa on the road the other day and inquired about it. His inquiry reminded me that I had seen this one last June at the British Cars by the Sea Show at Harkness Park Waterford CT, but I had never posted it here. As you can see, it has a removable 'targa' top, and soft fold down rear roof. I had a nice chat with the owner who had never heard of the BMW Baurs.

1985 TVR 280i 'Targa'

Thanks, Michael!

A Hallowe'en Baur!

I spotted these on ebay a few weeks ago. I should have bought them!

http://www.amazon.com/years-Youngtimer-Rallye-orange-Ready-made/dp/B006FHZZQ6%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJYE2C565R6BPOEKQ%26tag%3Dsearchtempest-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB006FHZZQ6

Full Disclosure: OK, fellas, I confess. I bought this set today 11/1/2013 from Amazon. I mean, really.... how could I NOT buy it??

And a Halloween widebody!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en From Baurspotting!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Happy Hallowe'en! Pumpkin by 524tdAviator in MyE28.com forum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2PoSljk8cE&noredirect=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-405Vvn3OU&noredirect=1

http://youtu.be/92HjH1GG3ro

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New E21 Baur Spotted in California!

UPDATE 115/2013: Sergio informs me that this Baur is now for sale. It is a project! Here is a new post about it with 20+ pics:
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2013/11/baur-3876-for-sale-in-ca.html

Thanks to Baurspotter of the Week, Sergio Yassiell Sandoval, in Facebook for these pics of a NEW FIND: Baur #3876 in Los Alamitos, CA!

Thanks, Sergio!

UPDATE: 10:15pm: This Baur was previously spotted by Amir K. back in August, but we did not have the Baur plate number on it------- until tonight! Here is the original post on this Baur from Amir:
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2013/08/amir-ks-california-e21-baur-find.html
You can easily see that this is the same car that Sergio found.

Small Baur World..... Strikes Again! ;)

Great teamwork, Baurspotters! thank you, Amir and Sergio!

Sergio initially posted about a different "Alpina' tribute car, and made a reference to a 'project 82' euro e21 baur" that a friend of his owns. I asked about the Baur, and Sergio said he would get back to me with some info and pics.
And he DID! Here they are, folks!

This brings our total of E21 Baurs in the US to 89! Woo hoo!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

2002 Voll Cabrio by Baur Spotted in PNW

Many thanks to Nesset of 2002FAQ for this pic that he sent me tonight of a 2002 Voll Cabrio by Baur that a family friend sent to him!

Nesset is in the Seattle, WA area of the PNW, so we assume that is where this Baur is also located, but we don't know yet for sure. We are actively seeking more info, and will post it here when we have it.

We couldn't do what we do here at Baurspotting without this kind of help from our friends around the country and around the globe! Thanks again to Nesset and his family friend!

Diana Dors' 1949 Delahaye 175 S: Wow!

My goodness.

This is Diana Dors' 1949 Delahaye. A Very Good Year, btw. OK, so it isn't a Baur, but at least it is a cabrio. One incredible cabrio, I might add. Wow. So, forgive me for posting this, but..... I just couldn't help it.

Isn't that incredible? Or, more accurately ..... incroyable!

What gracious curves!

"As curvaceous as its owner, this 1949 Delahaye Type 175 S Roadster is going up for auction on August 14 in Monterey, California for between $4 and $6 million. The stunning car was once owned by Diana Dors, an English actress and sex symbol who is also referred to as Britain’s answer to Marilyn Monroe. The car is one of only 51 ever made and flaunts French curves of the ‘30s, see-through steering wheel and bird motifs on the inside of the doors. Delahaye’s beauty is clearly visible in the details, such as chrome accents that highlight the curves, the embedded turn signals flanking the sides and the elegant facade. Parisian coach-building company Saoutchik created the body of this outrageous car. Sir John Gaul, a good friend of Prince Rainier, purchased the car new in Paris and after about five years of ownership, he sold it to Diana Dors for £5,000. She was just 17 years old at that time and didn’t even have a driving license. Alain Squindo, from RM auctions, said…

This car was made when this coachbuilt era was almost at an end, but this is one of the most spectacular and outrageous examples. It is a one-off and would have been extremely expensive at the time – it is extravagant and flamboyant.
The car has been completely restored and delivers 165bhp with its 4.5-liter six-cylinder engine. The Diana Dors-owned 1949 Delahaye Type 175 Roadster is one of the featured lots at the RM Auctions’ Sports & Classics of Monterey auction."

VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8qUG0e4psw&noredirect=1

http://www.bornrich.com/diana-dors-curvy-1949-delahaye-type-175-s-roadster-up-for-auction.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiRfwP2Twhg&noredirect=1#t=17

Not sure who Diana Dors is yet? These guys knew who she was.

Diana Dors is the knockout in the gold lame dress at the right of the picture. Yes, the one that you thought was Marilyn Monroe. OK, we ALL thought that was Marilyn Monroe, truth be told. Now, what were we saying about .... gracious curves? Yeah. And the car is not bad either! ;)

So, all is forgiven? Righty right.

;)

Autoweek: Your official BMW i3 photo gallery

From Autoweek:

Your official BMW i3 photo gallery

An unobscured, on-road look at the new BMW EV city carBy: Autoweek Editors on 10/10/2013

We've seen it so lightly camouflaged that it may as well be a production version, and we've seen official studio shots, but here's your official production BMW i3 city car in the sheetmetal on the road, inside and out, and plugged into a charger. Try to contain yourselves.

To help refresh your memory, the new i3 is the first road-going BMW model to be based around an all-carbon-fiber body. For development, BMW forged a working relationship with SGL Carbon and established a state-of-the-art carbon-fiber weaving and curing facility at its Landshut factory in Germany, where the new car's structure is made.

Power comes from an electric motor mounted low in the rear axle -- a position allowing BMW to devote the space under the hood to improved crashworthiness. The synchronous motor is produced in-house at BMW's Munich engine plant; the company says it weighs just 287 pounds and produces 168 hp. As with all electric cars, the torque is what counts, and the motor's 184 lb-ft is 5 lb-ft more than what the Mini Cooper S' 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo produces. The i3 is rear-wheel drive with a single-ratio gearbox offering three driving modes: comfort, ECO-PRO and ECO-PRO+.

We'll have a full drive review of the production version shortly; in the meantime enjoy the images, and be sure to read our earlier drive of the BMW i3 in late prototype form.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131010/carnews/131019999

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Steve's Baur on Jalopnik!

Thanks to THEPOOLEMAN for the heads up on this article. We know this Baur, owned by our friend, Steve G. Good luck with sale!

For $3,900, Become a Baur-Y Boy

You probably can’t be like Jack Bauer and save the world in 24 hours, but you can buy today’s kind of scruffy Nice Price or Crack Pipe BMW 323i Baur convertible and pretend. That is of course if you think its price isn't make believe.P

When it comes to recreational vehicles do you have a goldilocks moment, finding the luxury motor coaches too big and the passenger seat of a Miata too small? Well then, perhaps yesterday’s kitschy custom1961 International Harvester Camper would mama bear you right up? Of course with 53% of you not feeling its price, it’s unlikely anybody is going to A-OK taking this to the KOA anytime soon.P

If you happen to enjoy camping where there might be bears present, then today’s 1981 BMW 323i would likely also not be an appropriate choice as its top has been Baur’d making getting bear’d way to easy.P

You might remember the E21 as the first-ever 3-series, having replaced the 2002 ‘Neue Klasse’ in 1975. Alternatively you might not remember these at all as the 320i that was sent to the U.S. was a bit of a snoozer, owing to its 1.8-litre M10 four.P

That’s not the case with the 2.3-litre six cylinder edition denied to red-blooded Americans out of spite over our great nation’s emissions and fuel economy regulations. This 1981 E21 is that Euro spec 323i, featuring that model’s sweet as a sun dappled kiss M20 engine and thin, elegant bumpers that scoff at your car insurance deductible.P

Not only that, but this one has been modded - with BMW’s blessing - by Karosserie Baur GmbH, giving the car a multi-position targa/convertible top. That’s comprised of a hard section on one side and a soft section on the other - much like a Twix - both kept inline by a solid roof structure that features Alfa Montreal-esque slots in the B-pillar and maintains the Hofmeister Kink in the smaller rear sidelights.P

The ad for this silver over black Baur notes that top is theoretically configurable into 4 positions, but I think that includes one window up and one window down. Regardless, it's actually locked into configurations having the soft back section down all the time as the ad notes that part is in need of replacement.P

Other problems include a body that while seemingly clean does have what is described as a 'pateena' which I think is also the name of a hip new Asian fusion restaurant in Milwaukee. The seller says he has been using the car as a daily driver, which makes you wonder just how many miles are under its belt since he also says the odo broke at 110,000, but doesn't detail when that happened. Was it last year? Nineteen ninety seven?P

This car's condition isn't all titty twisters and atomic wedgies however, as the ad does note a litany of replaced parts, some of which are either expensive or critical elements. The daily driver status also means that registration of this grey market car shouldn't be too big a hassle. The fact that it has had side marker lights added implies that the work to make it legal may already have been totally done. Lastly, the gearbox behind the silky six is as five-speed as you want it to be.P

Baur E21s are pretty rare here in the U.S., but not onerously so. 323i editions however are pretty much equatable to lady chicken pearly whites so this car's appearance shoud raise an eyebrow of interest. The question of course is whether its price will cause all interest to be lost.P

The seller is asking $3,900 for the car, and while this is the second kind of ratty silver Bimmer we've had here this week, this one stands a far better chance of leaving at least some of your wallet intact over the course of its ownership, while that 850Ci would have drained your bank account and then gone after the kids' college fund.P

With all that in mind, what do you think about that price - $3,900 - for this rough but ready 323i Baur? Would that be a fair trade for such a rare and desirable car? Or, is that price un-Baur-able?P

You decide!

http://jalopnik.com/for-3-900-become-a-baur-y-boy-1450775250______________________________________________________________

Check out our previous post about Steve's Baur:

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-baur-find-new-baur-owner.html

Here is another article from Bring a Trailer:
https://bringatrailer.com/2013/10/20/sub-4k-1981-bmw-323i-baur/

____________________________________________________________

Here is another Baur that was featured on Jalopnik a while back (June 2012), along with a comment I posted there:

For $6,200, Grin And Baur It

Following the 2002, the E21 3-series was seen as a lackluster successor, especially in its 4-cylinder only U.S. guise. Fortunately today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe E21 is said to carry the silky smooth 323 motor, and more fortunately, the rare Baur targa top. Will its price however drop it back to traditional levels of E21 want?

Flexibility is a forte - well, outside of present day politics it seems - and the Baur targa conversion as applied to BMW's small series, provide a compulsive obsessive's nightmare of options for top positions. Cutting the roof off of a car not originally intended for topless duty is a Pandora's box of problems, everything from replacing structural integrity to figuring out how to seal formerly framed door glass.P

The Baur conversion solves a lot of these problems by being - to abuse the parlance of The Princess Bride - only mostly convertible. The 3-series retains its fully framed door windows and has new, smaller fixed glass behind a substantial and ribbed for her enjoyment targa bar. To that is mounted a removable center section and fold down soft section in back, just like the Lancia Zagato.P

Unlike that rusty italian (take my word for it) the Baur E21 was never officially offered here in the States, nor was the 3-series available here with the 140-horse 2,316-cc six cylinder, an engine that transformed the E21 from four banger snooze factory to engaging rump shaker. This 1982 metallic grey E21 brings both of those foreign exchange students to the mixer, in a car that most likely won't have to sit with Mohammet. Jugdish, Sidney and Clayton.

We've had a 323i here recently, although that car didn't let the sun shine in. It did rock the Euro bumpers, a feature sadly lacking on this one. Instead today's car carries the scarlet letter of massive park benches front and rear. The Baur top looks complete and mar-free, both the targa portion and the foldable rear section, which from the rear gives the car a bit of a Batman appearance when covered with its tonneau. No interior pics leave that realm a mystery, but the E21 interiors typically suffer from seat and door panel wear and tear as well as more dash crack than Bobby Brown's limo.P

On the plus side, the ad says that the car runs excellent and sports only a modest 115K on its clock. There's a nice quartet of basketweaves and the seller's promise of an additional set mounted with snow tires.P

Whaaa?P

Snow tires imply snow, as in having been driven in the cold slushy stuff, and that can only mean one thing -
~~snowball fight!~~rust. In fact, there's obvious bubbling on the driver's side rear wheel arch, something going on with the trailing edge of that side's door, and grodiness behind each front wheel arch, below the rub strip. That last one may be road tar or zombie entrails, who knows? Lastly, the paint on the trunk lid looks a little sketchy, but that may be just shadows and reflections. It's hard to tell.P

So the car's kind of weird - it looks U.S. Spec, but is claimed to rock the 323i engine and five speed, what's up with that? The Baur top is less of head scratcher as a tiny number of them were done here in the U.S. by aftermarket roof-loppers ASC, although most of those went to Canada. Overall, the six and the ability to go topless, along with the uniqueness factor may overcome any niggling rust issues.P

But will they overcome a $6,200 price tag? Ha, I'll be you didn't see that coming! It's now the time to weigh in on the price for today's candidate. The seller doesn't give up much in the ad, and I think waterbaording is frowned upon these days so we'll just have to roll the dice with what we've got. Do you think this Baur'd Bimmer is worth $6,200? Or, would paying that much prove you not smarter than the average Baur?P

You decide!

tom82baurUgraverobber

We have been doing a search in a bmw forum (referenced above in the "roof-lopper ASC' comment) for all the Baurs in the US. As far as we can tell at this point, only 3 US Spec E21 Baurs were imported officially by BMW. We were told that there were maybe 25- 30 TOTAL E21 Baurs in the US, including grey market versions. However, we have found a total of about 80 so far. That is a pretty rare car. But, it is also an historical artifact, in that they were produced at a time when it was widely believed that convertibles were going to be outlawed for safety considerations. Note the built-in roll bar. That is why it is there. The last American convertible in that era was the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado. Convertible production resumed in the mid-80's, including BMW, and the BMW relationship with Baur was phased out shortly thereafter.

Most of the grey market cars had to be 'federalized' at importation, which is why you see the 'diving board' bumpers. Those are easily replaced, to restore the cars lines. Most of the grey market versions also have the M20 six, either the 2.0L or the 2.3L, instead of the US M10 4 cylinder.

I personally prefer the sharp design lines of the E21 to its iconic predecessor, the 2002, and the equally iconic E30, its successor. Baurs are not to everyone's taste. But for those interested in rarity and interesting historical vehicles——that are also a blast to drive—— the E21 Baurs are hard to beat. And with only 80 vehicles in the entire US, you are not going to pass one going the other way very often. My E21 Baur is a daily driver, pushing 300K, and it puts a smile on my face every time I am in it. I can also drive it as a coupe, as a targa, as a landaulette, or as a cabriolet. 4 cars in one. We will be bringing a few to the Vintage at Saratoga on July14, and it may become perhaps the largest gathering of Baurs ever in the US. Most car guys, even BMW guys, have never seen one in person. Come to Saratoga and have a look. 6/25/12 3:05pm

http://jalopnik.com/5920827/for-6200-grin-and-baur-it

1969 BMW 1600 ti Cabriolet by Baur at Socal Vintage 2013

Thanks to the website CAR CRUSH, we have an update on one of the Baurs at the SoCal Vintage last weekend in Van Nuys CA. You may recall that we received the pic above from our friend and fellow Baur owner Curtis W. Thanks again, Curtis!

Baurspotter of the Week! :)

Here we have some additional info on this car: it is a 1969 1600 ti! The pics and info below are from the Car Crush website.

BMW 1600 ti Cabriolet (1969), owned by Potor Cordos: "I’ve had it for about 20 years, and found it in Germany between Cologne and Bonn. I kept the car in Germany before bringing it to the States about two years ago, and have done a fair amount of work on the body, but the motor is original and so is the interior – except for the seats that I replaced a few years ago."

You can see this and more here:

http://thecarcrush.com/blog/2013-socal-vintage-bmw-meet-in-woodley-park-van-nuys

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

VIDEO: 1982 BMW E21 Baur #3765 Top Cabriolet

Stumbled on this today. Thanks to Rolf Garluch for posting. Baur #3765.

Enjoy!

Satch Carlson Touts a Baur!

But does he know he was touting a Baur? Unless he reads Baurspotting.... maybe not!

:)

Satch Carlson, Editor of Roundel Magazine, has, wittingly or unwittingly, given Baur some prominent media attention in his article in this week's online Roundel Weekly. And he does it in a very stealth manner: he never once mentions the word: Baur. That sly devil! ;)

Satch attended the SoCal Vintage last weekend with Carl Nelson, of La Jolla Independent. And he attended it in style: he got to drive Nelson's Z1 to the show! In the article below he mentions that a lot of folks at the show didn't realize that the Z1 was a BMW.

Well, we are gonna 'one-up' that! Even FEWER folks, including perhaps Satch himself, realize that the BMW Z1 is also ..... you guessed it.... a Baur!

From 1988-91, Baur was involved in the production and final assembly of the space frame of the BMW Z1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karosserie_Baur

In addition to the above Satch's article mentions the BMW 1600 Cabrio, also owned by Nelson, that may be arguably the most famous 1600 Cabrio in the world, thanks to its prominent presence in Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" music video.

Guess who built that?

Regular readers of this blog already know the answer to that question because we have featured Carl Nelson and the Katy Perry video here before:

The 1600 Cabrio was built by Baur! The 1600 and 2002 Voll Cabrios, as well as the 2002 Cabrio Targas, were built by Baur. (There are a small number of exceptions to that, such as the Lumma Cabrios, but their numbers are extremely limited.)

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2012/06/carl-nelson-and-his-1600-cabriolet-aug.html

And yes, you can see the Katy Perry video on that post, fellas. ;)

Here is Satch's Roundel Weekly article, as it appeared today in my email. I loved the article, and not just because of my obvious bias for the Baurs. And thank you to Satch for giving our little niche interest group some rather prominent play, however inadvertently!

Enjoy!

SoCal Vintage BMW Meet: Still Crazy After All These Years

If the BMW 507 showed up, I didn’t see it.

But these days, the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet attracts so many cars of such a wide variety that I could easily have missed even such an icon as the famous Abrecht Graf Goertz design that many people still consider the most beautiful BMW ever built—and there was indeed one such registered. In fact, there were more than 200 confirmed entrants for the concours-cum-swap-meet-cum-festival of all things BMW.

Or at least all things BMW of certain models, mostly built between the mid-’50s (the invisible 507, an Isetta bubble car) and the early ’90s. They let in E30 3 Series and E34 Fünfers, and a host of E24 Sixers, to keep the hordes of 2002s company.

The E9 coupe crowd appeared in abundance, as usual, although Chris Macha, whose Malaga CS coupe has won just about every concours award imaginable, elected instead to bring a 1969 BMW 2000.

SoCal Vintage BMW Meet is the place to go if you seek the company of like-minded lunatics. It doesn’t matter whether you think it would be a terrific idea to stuff an M3 engine into a 2002—your choice of M3—or find a way to graft a few Weber carburetors onto an M70 V12 engine, somebody at the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet will be on your wavelength.

Webers are my particular madness, so I spent some time at the Ireland Engineering booth, where a young fellow named Andrew excitedly agreed with me on just about every point. Jeff Ireland was there, too, of course, with a tubed BMW 700 race-car project. Alas, I dare not mention the engine that they’ve stuffed into this poor thing (cough cough Volkswagen cough).

But I was not merely hangin’ at the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet to be inspired by other antisocial anarchists. (Like Bill Arnold and his Targa Newfoundland-winning Bavaria: awesome.) No, I was actually aiding and abetting Carl Nelson and the La Jolla Independent crew. See, they had to get a few cars up to LA to display at this affair, and I still have my license, so LJI logistics mastermind Ben Amen tossed me the keys to the Z1, knowing I am a roadster kind of guy, and off we went before daylight, a convoy of, shall we say,interesting BMWs: a perfect 3.0CS, the Z1, a stealth Agave CS coupe—Nelson has a tendency to uprate the E9s in various ways, believing in the old American hot-rodder mantra, There Is No Substitute For Cubic Inches—oh, did I mention the 3.0CSL Batmobile? Yes, a real one.

The Katy Perry car was there, too, the white 1600 Baur convertible used in the “Teenage Dream” video (watch the commercial pop-porn here), complete with carefully preserved teen-lust butt scratches on the hood. But much as I like that historic cabriolet, I am, as I say, a roadster guy.

I had forgotten just how much I like the Z1.

The coolest part may be just standing around at the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet explaining to people that, yes, it’s a BMW. I realize that many people have never seen a Z1 in the flesh, but I am always a bit surprised that there are avid BMW fans who have never even heard of the car. I won’t go into my pedantic lecture here, but I must say that the most crowd-pleasing element of the Z1 is pushing the button and watching the doors go up and down.

You can drive with the doors down, too, which I did on the way home through a perfect hot California October day, and it was on that journey that I had a sudden epiphany. I was trying to figure out why the Z1 felt so natural and so right, and then I reached for the cigar that I wasn’t smoking, and I realized that the darn thing had somehow transported me back in time to my earliest college days, when I drove to class with a stogie clamped between my teeth—at that age, you’re allowed some slack for stupidity—at the wheel of a 1943 military Jeep. Yes! That’s what driving a Z1 feels like!

So for the last few miles, I drove with the doors up, making the Z1 more like a conventional roadster. I was afraid I might get carried away and go looking for a place where I could buy me some Toscanelli cheroots.—Satch Carlson

Chris Macha usually stuns the crowd with his Malaga coupe. This time he brought a 1969 2000 sedan. (Fred Larimer)
(Note the BMW 2002 Cabrio Targa by Baur at left of pic. I believe that is the RHD example that we have seen there a couple of times before.------ Baurspotting Ed.)