My E30 story started 18 years ago, when I was 12. That year my family moved to Gaeta, Italy. When we moved we needed a second car for my dad to take to work. We saw a 1987 325 another officer at the base was selling for $2,500. I was hooked immediately.
It was delphin with euro hubcaps and a check panel and owners manual in German. I begged my parents to buy it. Somehow they decided it was the best car they could get, probably in part so they could shut me up. It turned out to have something catastrophically wrong with it but I can't, for the life of me, remember what it was. It overheated after about 20 minutes in traffic and refused to go up any hills(cracked block?). As long as neither of those things happened, it was a champ. My parents were frustrated. I was enthralled. When we moved away they sold it, with a warning of its quirks, to another American. I was heartbroken. I wish I had a picture of it to upload. I need to check my parents’ albums the next time I go home.
Fast forward to 2011. I had just stared Engines 1 at NOVA CC and was thinking about the BMW we left in Italy. At the time my daily was a '99 Honda Accord so the idea of finding my own ultimate driving machine was intoxicating. My knowledge of cars was low (hence the class) so I spent a lot of time looking at cars that were one tire on the road, one in the scrap heap.
I started going to the College Park meets and met the people there. They coached me, showing me their cars and explaining what I should look for and what I should run from. One fateful day I got a message about a CL car I should check out. The seller had listed a 1987 "328is" for $1600. I think the fact it was listed as a 328 kept a lot of people from considering it. I went to check it out and it turned out to be awesome:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
I asked one of the CP guys to come with me and meet with the seller. The car had 160k on the working odo, only a sprinkle of rust, and everything was complete. It was auto, but hey, swaps happen. He said he had gotten the car from a friend and had been using it to deliver pizzas. We talked him down to $1,600 and drove away! Over the course of the next month it got a name (Walter) cleaned and polished and lowered with Billy Sports and Bav Auto springs. Walter even got the chance to show off next to Alex Ovechkin’s car:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
All was well until one rainy April morning when I looked up from the radio too late to see a line of cars suddenly stopped in front of me. This happened (I can feel the flames of hate coming):
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
I was devastated. The thought of my beloved iS going to the scrapper was too much to bear but I didn’t have the space or knowledge to make the proper repairs myself. Thankfully, one my best friends had both so I sold it to him for the buy back price. Not only did he get it back on the road but this happened (the other car is his S50 powered es!):
truck and s50 car by gofredo50, on Flickr
getting into truck by gofredo50, on Flickr
The search was on for another E30. This time I wanted something really special. The trick was to find something great before I ended up buying something, anything, to get myself back in an e30. After several months of searching I got an e-mail from one of my friends with the subject “Baller Status!” It was a stunner. A 1993 laguna (of course) vert with an M50 swap done by Sarli Motorsports in MD. It had 160k on the chassis and about 110k on the engine, with receipts for major work done over the last 10k.
We met with the seller, Joe, several times. He was very patient and helpful and explained everything about the car. When we finally agreed on a price and I was set to drive away he taught me how to put the top down. I was hooked. In the time since I’ve owned Helen I would say about 95% of the miles have been put on with the top down. I can think of only 3 or 4 greater pleasures.
And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce Helen:
helen photobomb by gofredo50, on Flickr
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
dropped helen by gofredo50, on Flickr
helen and the fire truck by gofredo50, on Flickr
I'm in love. Every mile I spend with her has been amazing. She's even inspired her own print at Manual Designs. http://manualdesigns.bigcartel.com/p...30-convertible
Here's the original image:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
Thanks go out to all the members of the College Park Friday Crew: Jeff 1, Yun, Phaedon, Phillippe, Dan, Brody, Bruce, Ean (Jon Brookes). Without their help I would have ended up in an e36 long ago. And special thanks to Cody, for always knowing which car will suit me best.
And to you R3v, stay classy.
It was delphin with euro hubcaps and a check panel and owners manual in German. I begged my parents to buy it. Somehow they decided it was the best car they could get, probably in part so they could shut me up. It turned out to have something catastrophically wrong with it but I can't, for the life of me, remember what it was. It overheated after about 20 minutes in traffic and refused to go up any hills(cracked block?). As long as neither of those things happened, it was a champ. My parents were frustrated. I was enthralled. When we moved away they sold it, with a warning of its quirks, to another American. I was heartbroken. I wish I had a picture of it to upload. I need to check my parents’ albums the next time I go home.
Fast forward to 2011. I had just stared Engines 1 at NOVA CC and was thinking about the BMW we left in Italy. At the time my daily was a '99 Honda Accord so the idea of finding my own ultimate driving machine was intoxicating. My knowledge of cars was low (hence the class) so I spent a lot of time looking at cars that were one tire on the road, one in the scrap heap.
I started going to the College Park meets and met the people there. They coached me, showing me their cars and explaining what I should look for and what I should run from. One fateful day I got a message about a CL car I should check out. The seller had listed a 1987 "328is" for $1600. I think the fact it was listed as a 328 kept a lot of people from considering it. I went to check it out and it turned out to be awesome:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
I asked one of the CP guys to come with me and meet with the seller. The car had 160k on the working odo, only a sprinkle of rust, and everything was complete. It was auto, but hey, swaps happen. He said he had gotten the car from a friend and had been using it to deliver pizzas. We talked him down to $1,600 and drove away! Over the course of the next month it got a name (Walter) cleaned and polished and lowered with Billy Sports and Bav Auto springs. Walter even got the chance to show off next to Alex Ovechkin’s car:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
All was well until one rainy April morning when I looked up from the radio too late to see a line of cars suddenly stopped in front of me. This happened (I can feel the flames of hate coming):
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
I was devastated. The thought of my beloved iS going to the scrapper was too much to bear but I didn’t have the space or knowledge to make the proper repairs myself. Thankfully, one my best friends had both so I sold it to him for the buy back price. Not only did he get it back on the road but this happened (the other car is his S50 powered es!):
truck and s50 car by gofredo50, on Flickr
getting into truck by gofredo50, on Flickr
The search was on for another E30. This time I wanted something really special. The trick was to find something great before I ended up buying something, anything, to get myself back in an e30. After several months of searching I got an e-mail from one of my friends with the subject “Baller Status!” It was a stunner. A 1993 laguna (of course) vert with an M50 swap done by Sarli Motorsports in MD. It had 160k on the chassis and about 110k on the engine, with receipts for major work done over the last 10k.
We met with the seller, Joe, several times. He was very patient and helpful and explained everything about the car. When we finally agreed on a price and I was set to drive away he taught me how to put the top down. I was hooked. In the time since I’ve owned Helen I would say about 95% of the miles have been put on with the top down. I can think of only 3 or 4 greater pleasures.
And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce Helen:
helen photobomb by gofredo50, on Flickr
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
dropped helen by gofredo50, on Flickr
helen and the fire truck by gofredo50, on Flickr
I'm in love. Every mile I spend with her has been amazing. She's even inspired her own print at Manual Designs. http://manualdesigns.bigcartel.com/p...30-convertible
Here's the original image:
Untitled by gofredo50, on Flickr
Thanks go out to all the members of the College Park Friday Crew: Jeff 1, Yun, Phaedon, Phillippe, Dan, Brody, Bruce, Ean (Jon Brookes). Without their help I would have ended up in an e36 long ago. And special thanks to Cody, for always knowing which car will suit me best.
And to you R3v, stay classy.
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