MyE28.com

And this was in the shop too. Ruf RK Spyder. Had an education in Ruf today. Did not know these existed. The green in the top photo is the truer color. Yep... lets call the interior pomegranite. The detailed stitching on the upolstery matches the exterior color.

I felt very inadequate discussing my 86' 745i.

I've seen one in Oriange at our place. Can't believe that car is TipTronic. What a waste

I keep seeing this thing around town, and I finally caught it sitting still. Such a cool truck.




The same outfit has a 4-door pickup as well; even cooler!




We saw this little Fiat in the market square this morning, pulling promotional duty for some bakery.




And we saw this cycle car in Freiburg yesterday; I had to know more about it, and found the manufacturer's website: http://www.twike.com/en_GB/vehicles/twi ... rid-power/ It's essentially an electric car that uses pedal power to supplement the battery power. I'd never heard of them before, but it's an interesting concept.

vinceg101 wrote:
Newish Maserati sporting a SUPER polished steel/aluminum finish

I was driving down one of the canyons back towards Beverly Hills last Friday when the sun shone off this thing and temporarily blinded me.
As I was waiting to turn left, I quickly grabbed my phone and snapped this; pic doesn't do the finish justice and relay just how intense this was. Not to mention how much of a hazard it really was.

LOL I've totally seen that thing parked in WeHo. Ridiculous!

Acid House wrote:I've totally seen that thing parked in WeHo. Ridiculous!

Speaking of ridiculous, I had to look up what "WeHo" is

This weekend my wife & I attended my 30th high school reunion near LA. I let OcCoupe know we were coming down and that we had no Sunday plans. I wanted to see his 2800 and shop. Instead he invited us to... get this... drive Roll Royces at a private race track near Palm Springs (The Thermal Club).

So, this is really a case of what out of the ordinary cars we DROVE...



The centerpiece of the event was the new Dawn. I kept thinking Red Dawn (Wolverines!), but I don't think that's what RR had in mind:


This car is pretty spectacular looking with the top down. Here's a video of the top in motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjuVbnVr2cM



But the real fun was the driving. Julie & I both got to drive both the Ghost and Wraith on the track. In addition to lapping the track we did a series of maneuvers using cones to test how these 'motor-cars' retained their 'magic carpet' like ride even under extreme flogging: Slalom, Elk-test, and dragstrip/panic stop. These cars are amazing pieces of engineering. It is truly shocking that a 5500-6000lbs car can accelerate, turn, and stop with such poise. I refer to this as the 'macro-craftsmanship' I witnessed. Here's a video of Julie flogging the Ghost around:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-q79oibr0M



On the other end of the spectrum, is the micro-craftsmanship. If you have not experienced a RR up close and personal, and you care about attention to detail in general (?) then you have not lived. For example I took the time to inspect the way the interior aluminum window trim was constructed and noticed the nano-meter scale cut lines. Wow. They had a guy there from the wood shop in Goodwood who spent 15 minutes answering my questions about the wood & metal lamination they use in the wood surfaces. Each piece is individually engineered to deal with impact, for example.

Then there's the extreme opulence. It's not for me. But there's no doubt RR knows their customers. One of my favorites was the star field headliners. You can get them made so that each of the hundreds of individually placed LEDs match real stars in your favorite constellation:


Julie said "no fucking way" out-loud as the factory guy was describing how all Rolls including the Dawn included umbrella's either in the door or fender. Her blurting this out was pretty funny since most of the other people there were far more likely to actually own a RR than either of us (and dressed like it).

The BMW sourced V12 N74 (6.6L twin-turbo V12) was silky smooth and plenty powerful enough for these huge cars. The sound was disappointing. Julie was happy though, as she has a thing for low-end torque.


More pics:




After our return to OC, we stopped by Mike's work to pick up his E3. Oooh; it's as good in person as in pictures. What a score. The vomit-yellow interior is just spectacular.


Later, Mike took us by his shop and I got to oogle over his Coupe project (and pretty much decide that nacthblau is my favorite BMW blue). His shop doesn't suck either. I also got to meet his interior guy, Juan who I now have a serious leather-crush on.

Your writeup makes me feel more than a bit jealous, Charlie. That Miguel is one heckuva guy, and sure knows how to show guests a good time. Handsome too.

745i " Hartge" in BANDON, OR? Friend snapped pics, will try to submit. Any idea whose? I believe Oregon tags.

I keep seeing this car around town, and now it's sitting at the used car dealer. I'm not quite sure if it's for sale, and my German isn't good enough to waltz in and ask. I have no idea what it is, no badges on the body, but I think the hubcaps have an Opel logo on them. It reminds me a lot of a 1970-something Chevy Nova 4-door, but I'm not sure if Opel shared the GM X-platform or not. Anybody recognize it?

davintosh wrote:I volunteered to drive a vanload of high schoolers to Frankfurt & back this weekend, so spent some time in the wilds of Deutschland, and saw some interesting cars on the full-on autobahn. Huge numbers of BMWs, Mercs, Audis, VWs, and a bunch of unidentifiable motorcycles flying by me in the left lane, but saw a few Ferraris and what looked like a Bugatti Veyron. It was moving.

It dawned on me yesterday that the one car I have yet to see over here is a Prius; they just aren't here. Actually, you see very few Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, etc... Of the Eastern makes, Mazda is probably the most common, but still nowhere near the numbers you see in the US. Ford has a pretty good showing, but Opel is about the only GM brand I see. Although I saw a Chevy B-body Caprice being trailered somewhere. Not sure what the heck that thing is doing here.

I must agree. Just spent a month in good ol' Deutschland where I was born and raised.
The reason there are no Prius there is that Germans know they don't need a (overly complicated, huge carbon footprint having, overpriced) Prius Hybrid to get good fuel economy:
In the 90's VW launched their LUPO, the first ever 3 Liter car. 3 Liter / 100 km is 75+ mpg out of a subcompact car with 3 cyl. gas or Diesel engines. Around the same time Opel (GM) also sells their Corsa in Europe with 3 cyl. engines.
Also, say what you will about VW TDI, they've been getting 40+ mpg for several Generations now. That's only 5 mpg less than most Prius owners ('tards) report.
60+ % of passenger cars sold in Germany are Diesel.
Fuel in Europe is 3 - 4 times as expensive as here in the states. There simply hasn't been a dire need stateside to offer 75+ mpg cars.
The oil industry doesn't want it either, so magically the little Euro econo-boxes aren't "safe" or "clean" enough to offer here...
Also, one reason there are less imports in Germany is very high import taxes.
Most Audis, BMWs, even Mercs over in Germany aren't equipped the same as they are here, either. The average engine size in Germany is < 2.0 last time I checked.
In my whole month in Germany I didn't see a single E28 and very, very few old cars being daily'd in general.
I'm done ranting and you know... F*** Toyota Prius.

davintosh wrote:I keep seeing this car around town, and now it's sitting at the used car dealer. I'm not quite sure if it's for sale, and my German isn't good enough to waltz in and ask. I have no idea what it is, no badges on the body, but I think the hubcaps have an Opel logo on them. It reminds me a lot of a 1970-something Chevy Nova 4-door, but I'm not sure if Opel shared the GM X-platform or not. Anybody recognize it?

'69 - '72 Opel Admiral
Looks like it's missing its Opel badge on the hood.
Just go in and ask, I'm sure the guy speaks some English and he'd be happy to talk to you.

Found this one at a low rider car show last weekend at Chandler Fashion Square Mall...

That's now my favorite E39. They captured the essence of the design perfectly.

I spied this rare beast this AM.




r/
D.

That trunk spoiler is NLA.

MLastovo wrote:I spied this rare beast this AM.


r/
D.

WTF is that? Looks like an E23 trunkline, but the rest of it looks Honda, except for the BMW style grill.

I do remember seeing a mini pickup some years back with BMW grills, looked pretty good! Tongue in check.

That's would be a late 70s Honda Accord.

Parked in front of my neighbor's house today. I've always wanted one of these...

Karl Grau wrote:Parked in front of my neighbor's house today. I've always wanted one of these...

Ah, didn't we all. But I had a couple of split windshield vans and while there was nothing they couldn't carry, suspension wise, I found the rest of the vehicle lacking. Everything that was good about the old aircooled Beetles, the vans weren't. Still love seeing them, but no lust for one at all.

Mike W. wrote:

Karl Grau wrote:Parked in front of my neighbor's house today. I've always wanted one of these...

Ah, didn't we all. But I had a couple of split windshield vans and while there was nothing they couldn't carry, suspension wise, I found the rest of the vehicle lacking. Everything that was good about the old aircooled Beetles, the vans weren't. Still love seeing them, but no lust for one at all.

Still want one, but extra cab. I'd even take a vanagon style doublecab.

Hint:

Autobarn

Sepang. Got to ride in it. Holy sh**. So that's what a tuned turbo M30 feels like. Oh, and the paint is as good as it looks in pictures. Pure sex.




47k mile M5.


Ultra low mile M3. Zinno!


73 2002. Aka M2. Aka the best paint job I've seen on any car, ever. The underside is just as perfect. Drool. ... And that interior...







Best part of the day. The NSX. This car has moved up my short list of cars to own. Supercharged. 360hp at wheel. The most snickety gear box ever. Perfect steering feel. Amazing seating position. Honda quality. Want. Want. Want.



See here for more details on this amazing NSX: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=129383

Roy and his wife (and grandsons) were great hosts, despite me wearing a Seahawk shirt. The Auto Bahn was as immaculate as I expected. Thanks again, sir!

And it was a gorgeous day in New England. God Bless America. April 19, 1775.

Not everyday you get to see a new one cut up.



I LOVE these cars. They have such a strong presence in the flesh.



And I always get excited when I see an E28

white chocolate wrote:

I would never have repaired that car. Holy cow. Total please!

My pleasure Charlie... enjoyed meeting you and your wife and showing you the "Bahn" and cars. Glad you enjoyed your drive in the Sepang and NSX Always great to meet Board members you've only known via the web... we have such a great community.

-RoyW

white chocolate wrote:





Not everyday you get to see a new one cut up.

For some of us it is! This is a 991 GT3 I'm working on at the moment. The nearside has a new sill and repaired quarter panel, and the roof skin is also new. At least the engine stayed in this one.

I would never have repaired that car. Holy cow. Total please!

For some of us it is! This is a 991 GT3 I'm working on at the moment. The nearside has a new sill and repaired quarter panel, and the roof skin is also new. At least the engine stayed in this one.

I think I would have wanted the M5 to be deemed total and get a new one. Someone now has a salvage title M5 for an accident that wasn't even their fault...I wouldn't be too happy. Last I heard, parts and labor was approaching $40k

I am always shocked at the extent people are willing to go to fix cars that are easily available to be bought with a clean title. That is some serious commitment for the GT3 owner!

Did they really total that M5? I can't imagine that if you're only at $40-50k.

Saw this today, in what I figure is this car's natural environment:



Also, saw this, in what I also have to imagine is it's natural environment.



That has to be one heavy trailer. I have never seen a trailer made out of a van before.