Exciting NEW FIND! Northern California E21 Baur!

I am pleased to announce that I have been contacted today by a Baur owner in the Yosemite area of northern California with a totally unknown Baur!  You folks probably know how excited I am over this:  the owner found our blog and emailed me!  No one saw this coming!

So, a hearty welcome to our new owner... and I have done a check.... this Baur is not listed on either of the International Baur Registries so it qualifies as a NEW FIND!

Are you reading this, Uwe!  :)  I love it when this happens!

I have some limited info on this Baur and only two pics..... but they are the essential pics!

It is a 1979 320/6, and as you can see in the pic, it has the red BMW center tail piece and Euro bumpers.  This pic was taken at the time of purchase.  It is a 1979 Polaris 320/6.

Baur #1170.  

Here is some info from the owner:

The Baur is a true Baur with metal placard and has grey market stickers showing import in door jam. I do not have any specific paperwork other than title and registration showing its a 320 and not a convertible. (I purchased Mobile Tradition replacement parts for the Baur but they were not installed so have a few parts still in bag.) The Baur is complete except for missing some items from the special Motorsport Belgium package that it originally had. It appears to have had the euro parts re installed after Federalization or somehow passed through unmolested. It has euro bumpers and was not cut for side markers. It has white faceplates in km. and is a 4-sp manual with limited slip, Solex carb, Motorsport suspension (Bilstein), Motorsport Rack, very rare original reflective red lens in rear tail between tail lights with black letters "BMW" (part of Belgium package), trunk Motorsport black rubber faring, missing front Motorsport faring so just has traditional, missing Motorsport steering wheel just has traditional, missing side skirts, but still has very rare Vial 13" alloys that are original and part of Belgium package. They require special lugs. The retired German mechanic (he was in his seventies) who sold it to me in LA showed me a glossy flier ad of the Motorsport package that was written in German with pictures of what the Baur had originally but the gentleman would not give the flier to me even though it was in the car when he bought it. It probably can be found online now days to show what my car looked like before a few parts were stolen from it (skirts, steering wheel etc.)

The way the German mechanic got it in the 90s was it came in for repair after being backed into on front passenger corner ruining faring and front panel with radiator etc. The owner thought too expensive to fix so mechanic bought it after owner junk titled it. So my title says salvage. He said it pushed in radiator and fender and tip of hood so he cut out front panel and replaced with US 320i sheet metal. Now one can see the surgery inside due to welds breaking down. The hood was dented too in that encounter so has a 320i hood. These body repairs need to be redone. A few years ago I peeled the trim strip above the front window back and I have the first signs of rust. Have not looked at car in garage yet.

A very exciting find!

We are very grateful to the owner for contacting us, and look forward to learning more!

It currently has a blown head gasket, so it may be a while before it is back on the road.  But the owner is a bonafide E21  fan, having owned several others, and has a renewed interest and love for this car!  

Baurspotting stands in strong support of the effort to bring this Baur back to life... please do not hesitate to call on our Baur community for anything you need!

Stay tuned!