What In the BMW is that thing?

     If you are like me, you have a sweet spot for odd models in a company's line up. It seems as if these odd cars are a love or hate type relationship for most. I love the R63 AMG and the Audi RS2. These are two examples of one off models. The R63 is extremely rare here with only 30 in the states and only maybe 1 or 2 RS2s here. This is also how I view the 8 series. It came out at probably one of the worst times as we were dealing with economic issues and wars. If you are in your early 20s, you most likely have no idea what an 8 series is. I know car enthusiasts that don't even know what an 8 series is. That's why I love it. I personally see the 8 series as a secret model that when you see one, deep down you feel good knowing that you know that car is special and nobody else does. I could tell people I just saw an 8 series and they would say, "good for you!" In my head I am saying, "dang, I just saw a 8 series....It's gonna be a good day!" Think of it as a secret society if you will.

    
     I always read about BMW's in magazines back in the day but never really thought much of them to be honest. I think I was still in my "exotic car or nothing stage." That all changed with one movie. This movie in a way, is just like the 8 series. Not many people have seen it but it has an All-Star cast to it. Put Demi Moore, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Digital Underground in a movie and what do you get? Nothing But Trouble!  This movie was great. Had a unique story to it but you always enjoyed watching it. In there, Chevy Chase drives a BMW 733i. It was a unique car at the time and they made it out to be a wicked car in the few scenes it was in. After that movie, I had a soft spot in my heart for old school BMWs, with the 8 series probably being my favorite. Here is a link for one of the car scenes in the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEdapTxsKxo There is a naughty word or two in there so be careful. If that scene doesn't make you want that car, then you won't understand this blog today.

     Let's slow down and take a look at this car and why it's so awesome. I'm going to outline this out a bit.......

A. Body
     1. It is a long, GT car with a very unique front end.
     2. The squaring rear fender flares of this generation always made me drool.
     3. The open window with no pillar made this car seem bigger than it was.

B. Motor
    1. V12 or V8 options with the V12 giving you bragging rights over your friends
    2. 322 HP in the V12 in the early 90s was epic win.
    3. Smooth, large engines provided groundwork for great GT car.

C. Overall
     1. Heated seats back then made you have "Pimp Status."
     2. A GT car that was early for its time. This is straight up a cruising in comfort car.
     3. Owning this car meant you were rich.... very rich. 70k in early 90s was a lot of money.


     Hope you enjoyed my outline. I was never really good at those in school, but I tried my best.

     Out of all the things right with the 8 series, one of my favorite parts of it is the pop up headlights. I believe the pop up headlights generation was the last generation of drivers cars. There were no drivers aids and basically the car performed by how you drove it, not by a computer. I know what the younger generation will say....."well my turbo Neon will smoke that thing!"  That is true. Obviously cars now will be a lot faster and have a lot more features. My Audi A6 has a smaller engine and makes more power, that's called progress. That stuff doesn't matter though. Who cares if your car is faster or has twice as many features? This car has a specific history to it and will always be special, and you can't take that away from it. Not many cars in our generation can have the presence that this car had and still has.

     Thanks to the owner, handsome Rob, for bringing this over. (name that movie reference) This 93 example is cleaner than most cars that are only a year old. It is extremely well taken care of and we all need to thank people like him for keeping these works of art on the road. Also a special thanks goes out to him for bringing over a few others for pics which you will see in the next few weeks. It's great knowing that people enjoy this blog and are excited to see the next episode so they bring friends over to shoot pics. That's a true fan. I am sad that I am putting this write up out in the open as I want to keep the story of the 8 series secret like we talked about earlier, but it had to be done. This car will always hold a spot in my heart and hope more owners will keep them in tip top shape.


  I am going to end this with a Jerry Springer final thought.

"They don't make movies like they used to anymore. CGI has taken over and comedy seems to be unoriginal. Same with the automotive industry. Cars are a lot faster now but they don't make them like they did 30 years ago. Most don't have any soul. Even the Kia Soul doesn't have soul. Of course we all like the new cars and the new movies, but nothing beats going back to the roots. Driving an 8 series has to be one of the more rewarding drives to bring you back to a time when automotive and movie companies took a chance."


I'll leave you with one of the greatest scenes in the movie. Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGVZISx-oWs

Rollin.... in the Notchback Ford, with the turbo spooling, I never get bored!

 

     As some of you may remember, I have talked about the LX 5.0 I had back in my early days. I was really bad back then when it came to driving. It was basically stock except for some plug wires, a B&M shifter, and K&N filter. It was a blast to drive being in my late teens/early 20s. I could literally thrash that car for hours then drive up to Swifty gas station, fill it up with 87 oct (cause I was broke back then) and go thrash it again. The car had 140k miles on it and was still running factory quarter mile times of 14.4 at 99 mph. It was simple, it was fun, and depending on the corner, could drift like a bat out of hell. The best part was, it was so easy to control. You never got too out of control with it. Granted it didn't have much HP by today's standards, but it was a manual, rear wheel drive tank. What's more fun than that? I had been pulled over 3 times in that car for doing crazy stuff but never received a speeding or wreck less operation ticket. Odd, right? I remember one snowy night taking it around town when nobody was out and just whipping the car all over. It did everything I asked. The car was so easy to drive hard, unless you weren't used to it. Case in point. A buddy who drove a old front wheel drive Dodge Stealth took a crack at the car once. I took him to my favorite corner to whip it sideways. Long story short we ended up in a persons yard inches from a tree.

     The best part about my car is that it never quit. It never said "No." Even when I ran out of gas on the highway going up an incline, the car rolled to a stop and two minutes later fired right up and drove 5 miles to a gas station. Even when I slid 100 yards on a snow covered highway and hit somebody that had stopped in the fast lane to get over to get off an exit, it still drove home. (yes, some stupid lady stopped IN THE FAST LANE to get over and off an exit on a snowy day. When I hit the person behind her, she took off. This is why I have severe road rage.) The car was always there for me and I will never forget that about my 5.0. Look above.... this car was just recently put back together after some cosmetic work and had a little pee in the driveway. All it needed was a cap to be tightened and car was fixed. Even though this motor is A LOT different from the standard 302, it's still an easy car to deal with and work on. The fox body was so simple inside and out. That's why I adore it. It wasn't about heated seats or navigation or Bose surround sound. It was built to get beat on and to beat on some Camaros. That's exactly what I did.

    This fox body is a little different than my stock LX. First, it's a notchback. If you are a mustang fan, you know that these are the desired ones. Police used them as well. They are by far, in my opinion, one of the best looking mustangs ever built. They look like they are ready to throw down at the track. This specific one is in great shape for its age. No typical trunk rust that you always see on the fox body. Interior is in wonderful shape and clean. Everything works on it. As you can see by the engine shot, it has a turbo big enough to suck in your arm. I am told it is a small turbo for that motor but there is no lag on it which is probably a good thing considering the lack of weight on the back wheels. You don't want a huge turbo when boost kicks in brutally at higher revs unless you want to end up in a ditch or against a tree. Turbo V8s are special in my book. I love any turbo V8 out there. Back in my 5.0 days, if I had a turbo on mine, I would have been king of the streets. haha

     The owner asked a neighbor and I if we wanted a ride, so we hopped in, and took the old stanger out for a spin. Sitting in this car brought back so many good memories. I haven't been in a fox body since 2000 when I sold mine. It felt good being in one again. As for the drive, I live on a pretty curvy road so we could only get into boost just a bit, but as god as my witness ( and the other two people in the car) this notchback is one to not mess with. The spooling sound was glorious. That's all I can really say because it is impossible to explain. It just sounds that good. For a mustang, the car handled pretty well on top of that. My lx could never take a turn without rolling over, unless you were throwing the back end out. This car felt planted, it felt safe, it felt like it wanted to race something. With us not getting into more than half throttle, you could tell this car is insanely quick. Makes me wonder how a Twin Turbo Lamborghini with 1500 hp could even feel. Every time I feel pull like this, I wonder why somebody would need more. But more is fun. haha

     Again, thank you to the owner for bringing by and taking us for a spin. It brought me back in a sense to those times, but made me realize in the last 15 years, how much different tuned cars are now. These cars are serious. No more 10-15 horsepower gains with a new filter but more like 200-300 with turbos and e85s and etc. It is wonderful to see that the foxbody still has it! It still turns heads and I will always love it. FYI, if you are in the Cincinnati Tri State area, check out the sticker on back window and give a shout when you need some powder coating done. Tell me this doesn't look good.

Call 911, cause the 911 is being all 911!

 

     Growing up, if you didn't sit in your room reading and fantasizing about the latest Porsche, you were probably playing with dolls or watching My Little Pony. I remember back in my day dreaming about the 959 and loved to tell people it was so fast that it was banned in the good ole US of A. They were not really banned, just not street legal. In grade school, while riding the bus to school, I used to love to look around at all of the cars going by. There was one place that we passed that always had unique cars they worked on. It was often that you would see a Rolls Royce, a Bently, or several nice Jaguars there. One day, and one day only, there was a 959 in the parking lot. I knew what it was immediately. Sad part was, I was young and nobody else around would know what that car was so even if I turned around and yelled, "Look, a 959!", everyone would look at me like I was on PCP. I never saw that car again, but their were rumors of its existence in the ritzy part of Cincinnati and there were also rumors that it was crashed on a windy road killing the driver. Not sure if those are true, but it is believable. Why? Cause all turbo Porsches have been known as the widow makers. The 959 was the ultimate widow maker. Seriously think about it. Late 80s, a twin turbo, all wheel drive monster that most people to this day could not even handle. I am sure that car shocked a lot of people. The supercar was born. The 959's competitor was born around the same time as well, but we will save that for another day.

     The 911's story started much sooner than that though. And if you are not familiar with the 911's story, stop reading, hit up Wikipedia, and gain some knowledge. Thank me later. The 911 is the pinnacle of Porsche, road cars that is. It's body lines have remained similar for decades yet nobody asks why don't they change it. Why would they? IT WORKS! Some say a rear engine car should handle like molasses but don't say that to any 911 owner. If you have never driven or ridden in one, then you don't know what "against all odds" means. These cars win races.... and lots of them. 911s are raced in events all over the world. I can't even begin the think how many races a 911 has won over the years. It has to be more than any other car made. Well, enough history. Let's get to this one in the pictures.

     The 911 is seriously a versatile machine. There are so many ways you can get it. Think of a Subway sandwich. There are so many variations..... just off the top of my head..... Carrera, S, 4S, Turbo, Turbo S, GT3, GT3RS, GT2, then all of the drop tops and one off designs like the RS4.0 or GT2RS. They are all over the place. But guess what?   THEY ALL SELL! And they sell very well. Porsche does an excellent job of catering to all enthusiasts whether it be somebody who wants a nice sports car all the way up to the dedicated track cars. This one pictured, although not a track car or a fast Turbo S, is still a curve thrashing car. It is funny when you talk to the uninformed car enthusiast about a Porsche and they say, "it only has XXX HP?" Little do they know that horsepower doesn't mean poopoo to most 911 owners. Balanced is what matters. A car you can throw around a track or some twisties and still have a blast in a straight line is leaps and bounds better than a car that runs a quarter mile a second or two faster but handles like a bus full of Hippos. These cars are designed for the road and track together, and Porsche knows this. They know what they are doing and they are doing it right. I remember reading an article about how a 911 4S actually did better on an off-road course compared to a Ford Explorer. How do you do that? With decades of research, knowledge, patents, and a loyal customer base.

     This Carrera here is a beautiful car. It is not too flashy, the interior on this 997 body is upgraded from the older models and more modern, and from every angle it looks the part. It has that typical 911 shape and flow and will never look tired when a few decades pass by. Look at the older generation 911s. They still look wonderful. That's how this car will look in 20 years. It will still look like a sexy reared sports car. Thank you to the owner for bringing it by and having a chat about it. As always, the sexy cars bring out the crowd and this one was no exception. I counted 15 people at one point in/around my driveway chatting.

Jerry Springer style final thought----- Why did police stop putting 9-1-1 on the back of their cars? Because idiot criminals were stealing them thinking they were Porsches.


Sorry for the delay on episodes. Summer has been fun family time so I have been slacking on getting cars over. I will try my best to keep on schedule!  

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