New Link: Power to The Baur!

I recently came across a new link dedicated to Baurs:

http://www.power-to-the-baur.de/

I have added it to the sidebar.

Check it out.

Baur TC1 in the US: Interim Status Report

This is a link to a spreadsheet of what we have gathered so far in our effort to identify and locate every Baur TC1 in the United States at this time.  Please consider that it is not yet complete.  It is an interim report, and the information is still coming in.  It is divided into sections:

1) Known Baur Numbers;

2) Known Baur Numbers, Unfound Baurs;

3) Known Baurs, Unknown Baur Numbers;

4) Unknown Baur Numbers, Unconfirmed Reports.

I have further added a column for known locations and, if unknown, last reported location; whether the Baur is a previously known Baur, or a new discovery; and whether it is listed on the International Baur Registry (Stephan)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://www.baur-tc1.de/&rurl=translate.google.com&client=tmpg&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://www.baur-tc1.de/&rurl=translate.google.com&client=tmpg

and Jeroen's original list of 33 US Baurs (from Baur TC1 in the US Thread in bimmerforums). 

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1566814

Jeroen also provided a listing of 25 Baurs that were documented as going to Canada (mainly), and the US.  Any cars appearing on that list are also noted (one).

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1566814&page=3

(E21 Bimmerforms "Baur TC1s in th US thread;  Post 74, page 3)

This turned out to be a fairly complicated task, and I apologize for any errors in advance, as I am sure there are omissions and errors.  I wanted to get this out, and I will continue to update it as more information is received. 

I do wish to take a moment express my profound gratitude to the numerous members who have contributed to this compilation, and I hope I have at least begun to do justice to your contributions.  This has been a long time coming, and we are not nearly done.

Damn the torpedoes!  Full steam/speed ahead!

https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtrzAT-dK6H1dDhIemd5SVJMSEhMbDRwMW5Td0U4Q2c#gid=0

Vintage at Saratoga....Three New Baurs!

Afonso, owner of Baur #A000048, attended the Vintage at Saratoga yesterday. He did not bring his Baur, but he did meet Lawrence Charlemagne, who has been mentioned a number of times in here as a NY Baur owner. He also met a new E21 Baur owner, George K. of Saratoga, NY. George has just completely restored a beautiful Baur, and he also has a Baur parts car. I have now spoken to Afonso, Lawrence and George, and I will be posting a lot of information that I learned from them in the next few days. I was hoping to do that today, but I had relatives visiting all afternoon, and I was unable to get to it. I have lots of pics of George's Baur, as well as many pics that he sent me from the Vintage show.... And Lawrence's beautiful 2002 appears in a couple of them. I haven't yet mastered the technique of uploading pics from the iPad to the forum, so I will have to do it from my work PC.

Lawrence informs me that his Baur number is A000872-05. He has owned it for about 20 years, and he has restored it. It now has an E30 M20 5speed in it.

George K.'s Baur number for the restored car 1979 323i is A000635, and the parts car is a 320/6 and he thought it was 000685, but he wasn't exactly sure. We will check back on that one.

So stay tuned .... More to come!

Many thanks to Afonso, who wins the BAURHUNTER OF THE WEEK!! award for helping make these contacts! Nice work, Afonso!

Thanks also to Lance, VP of the CT Valley Chapter, who also helped pass along the info about us to George. Thanks, Lance!

UPDATE: I just checked the international Baur Registry. None of those three Baurs numbers mentioned above are listed yet!!!

So it appears that we have Three New Previously Unknown Baurs to add to our list! A cause to celebrate! Thanks again to all!

Alpha and Omega: The First and Last Baurs

I thought it might be interesting to post the pics we have of the First E21 Baur built, along with pics of the Last E21 Baur built. The Alpha and the Omega, so to speak.

See also our new post :
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2011/11/first-baur-restoration-project_23.html

Pics from Stephan's International Baur Registry website:
http://www.baur-tc1.de/tc1-4001-bis-4595.html

This is the final E21 Baur TC1 built.  According to Jeroen, the owner of this Baur also owns the First Baur built.

This is the First E21 Baur built, recently restored, from the Italian E21 fan club website.

The First E21 Baur:

E21 Paint Color Choices

Ask and ye shall receive....... you are gonna love this site!

Just click on a color and .... Voila! the car changes! F****** Brilliant!

Thank me later. Enjoy.
N.B.  the site has been recently updated.  Here is the main link:
http://www.e21-board.de/wbb//farbtabelle/

http://www.e21-board.de/wbb//farbtabelle/normal.html
http://www.e21-board.de/wbb/index.ph...abelleStandard

Metallic colors are there also... click on metallic farben.
http://www.e21-board.de/wbb//farbtabelle/metallic.html

You can also find the colors by production year on this site.

I will track down the actual paint codes when I get a little more time.

Here's fun site:

http://www.3dtriad.com/e21/index.html

Four Door E21 ....... Huh??!!!

This is from the Italian E21 fan club link below.   OK, Ok, it is only hypothetical.

What?    A four door E21??

YFW

Enjoy!


 http://www.bmwe21fansclub.it/bmwe21/articles.asp?id=2&page=33 Hypothesis four-door version

In spite of rather generous size for the time, the car body of the E21 3 Series interior is not offered a spacious rear seat for passengers, which above all had to deal with accessibility rather difficult. A four-door body would solve at least the second problem, satisfying those customers who thought the 5 Series is too demanding in terms of size and price of purchase. Also could be an additional weapon against competitors such as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta audio 80 (available in both two-door and four-door, but sold mainly in the latter configuration).
Many times the press of the time ventured the rumor according to which the study would have been a body with two more branches in the small BMW (even someone identified as Series 4). We do not know exactly how these items were well founded, surely there is a press release issued by the House in the spring of 1979, which is definitely disproved the rumors about new versions of 3 Series Touring 3-door and 4-door sedan.
It is BMW is likely to be asked about business opportunities that would open a wider range and has decided to allocate the financial resources to the development of the new generation of cars and increase production to meet a rising demand. The idea had, however, its validity, so that was implemented with the E30 3 Series, available soon at both two and four doors.
For fun we tried to reconstruct the appearance of a hypothetical four-door 3 Series E21. Again, we assumed two solutions: the first is inspired by the E12 5 Series and provides the frames of the windows completely chromed.





This solution is valid on the car bigger, it takes a little 'boost to the lean side of the 3 Series and, probably, would be a little' "heavy" with dark colors. We then tried to "blacken" the pillar and the profile of the rear door of the glass partition, as on the E23 7 Series, 5 Series E28 and E30 3 Series.





The result is more satisfactory, because it speeds up a little 'the car, that continues to seem longer than the original model. That in the end is always the best: an example of design seventies and achieved great commercial success with only one body style!

Two E21 Baurs at Connecticut Valley Chapter Show and Shine July 10, 2011

See also:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6545219794402951275#editor/target=post;postID=6348012823426068450


Wickham Park, Manchester, CT July 10, 2011   BMW CCA Connecticut Valley Chapter Bring More Wax (BMW) Show and Shine Event.  It is worth noting that having two E21 Baurs together at an event is relatively rare occurrence here in the US. Current estimates indicate that there are possibly a total of 50-100 E21 Baurs in the entire US. The two Baurs shown in the pics below are, at this writing, the ONLY two known E21 Baurs in the New England region, an area comprising 6 different states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont)..... and millions of people!

To put this in some perspective, the recent Bimmerfest held in Pasadena CA, drew upwards of 1,000 BMWs. There were a total of 2 E21 Baurs present at that show. The Vintage BMW show in North Carolina at the end of May drew about 300 or so BMws. I dont have the exact figures. There were NO (zero, zip, nada) E21baurs present whatsoever. Bimmerfest East is scheduled for August 6, 2011 in Aberdeen, MD. At this writing there are a total of 1207 BMWs registered, but only one known E21 Baur. (Your humble correspondent, btw)
The Show and Shine in Manchester CT last Sunday had about 30 cars present, more or less. Two of those cars were E21 Baurs! So this tiny event in CT is tied with the mighty Bimmerfest of Pasadena for hosting the largest convocation of E21 Baurs this year!

Kudos to the Connecticut Valley Chapter for making this possible!

Afonso is on the left with his silver 1978 320/6;  Tom (yours truly)  is on the right, with his 1982 Lapisblau 323i Baur; the photo was taken by Adrian, another BMW enthusiast, who can be seen in photos 3 and 4 (tall gentleman in the light shirt)--- thank you Adrian!

In the pic above, you can see Afonso's Baur plate:  #48!!!  This is one of the earliest E21 Baurs.  According to Afonso, it was originally imported into Canada,and was brought into the US by a previous owner.  Afonso bought it at an estate sale about 7 years ago---- let's just say it was a STEAL!!! He has replaced the original Solex carburetor with a Weber 4 barrel;  he has repainted it himself--- very nice job---- and he is currently looking to restore the black cloth interior, which is showing some signs of wear.  Overall, it is a beautiful car and..... it only has a little over 100kms on the odometer!  I think it was 104 kms.... which is about 64,000 miles, more or less!

The Baur badge you see above is a badge he removed from the car when he repainted it.  I have never seen one of those, and if you look carefully, it was so shiny and reflective that my fingers (on my iPhone camera) show in the pic.  His dash is German, and he has the original stamped service records from day of sale.  He also has the original handbooks, including one for the Baur top, in the original black case.  Afonso also has the original clip/snap-on cover for the rear window!!  This is an extraordinarily original Baur!   Afonso also told me, btw, that he bought it because he likes unusual cars, and until about two years ago, he had no idea how rare this Baur really was! 

Wow, and congratulations to Afonso!  I had a great time meeting you today Afonso and spending the afternoon.  I look forward to doing it again one of these days at another show.  BTW, Afonso also owns a rare 535is which he will be bringing to the upcoming Vintage Show in Saratoga, NY.  Look for him there!
 The Patroon Chapter President (host of the Saratoga Vintage show) and his wife attended the show today---earning the prize for most miles traveled, btw.