Reply With QuoteLoving that E3 proper Shark nose
Two 'specials' today.
A Jaguar owning customer living near the German border spotted a 70s BMW E3 3.0 Si. The car was parked at a spot for ages and it was untouched. He managed to find the owner and he bought the car. It was brought in for a first 'meet-and-greet'.
First of all: I love it!
Second impression: basically a nice car, with work to do and an odd problem.
The car was stored at a more or less sheltered spot. The paint is dirty, faded but we can't see any 'cauliflower' under the paint. That's a good sign. The floor looks okay but the car has not been on the ramps yet. So that can turn out nasty.
Rubbers in general are old and brittle, including the window rubbers. But I'm pretty confident that BMW has these in stock. As goes for the most parts of older BMWs. The odd problem is the roof! It is collapsed: as if there was a person with too much weight sitting on the roof. You could say that this car has a Mercedes Pagode roof... We had a professional metal-and-paint guy in the shop (he did the woodwork for the Jaguar below) and he thinks that this is not a small job; headliner out etc. He suggested that this caving roof could be the result of the sliding roof: it looks to be an after-market roof and chance are that they didn't use proper material to support the roof! The condition of the car would make it a perfect example for those 'before & after' videos of car detailing you see on YT!
The good news is: the engine runs, according to the owner. It runs but only at tick-over. More revs and it dies down. Our first idea: sludge and debris from the tank. But we'll see that in a while.
The car is not an original Dutch car. It was put on the road in May 1974 and it came to the Netherlands in 2019. And it looks as if it was untouched since then. The specs are interesting: no auto'box but with fine quality leather in good condition. Most here were sold with posh fabric. And the sporty waist line decals are a 'first time' for me as well. Perhaps it was done for another market than the Dutch. Our idea now is that it's a Swiss car, or perhaps a German. Most cars from these countries are well-spec'ed. And it's not a US market car (those were called 'Bavaria' btw) because it has not hideous impact bumpers and the speedo is in km/h and not ml/h.
I'll keep you informed!
----------
Then the other beauty: an old English White / red leather Jaguar MKII. The owner has spent a lot of money and time to get it into this condition. A really fine car. A friend of mine found a guy in the southernmost part of the country who was willing and able to add an old-school folding roof to the car. The complete job -with new headliner- was not too expensive, given the hours and hours of work. Let's say that a lot of watches from the Seiko Marinemaster's collection cost more.
The finishing touches? New wood panels in the car. Ordered new from the UK but we were all not impressed by the quality of the lacquer. So our car-painting friend came to the rescue and started sanding and respraying the wood. And he uses some matching 'walnut' varnish for the back side. Anyway, pics tell more.
Last edited by thieuster; 8th December 2023 at 19:45.
Loving that E3 proper Shark nose
Two gorgeous cars there.
I must admit though, I have a soft spot for a white Jag with red upholstery.
Cheers,
Neil.
This is one of those project that keep me thinking: "How could they built that for that money!?" Yeah labour was cheap and the story is that Jaguar didn't make money on these cars (when did they make money in general?). But this woodwork is intricate to install and preparing the back side for the instruments to fit properly took a lot of milling. It takes hours to get it right, even for the guy who does the work in the workshop now (and he has done perhaps 15, 20 car before).
Those E3's are a rare sight these days. A quick couple of phone calls and internet search results made me aware that parts-supply is indeed good! In that case, Germany is the go-to place. Who would have figured... Lots of specialists, breakers, and the company itself of course. But that comes at a price! I'm glad that it's not a US Spec Bavaria version. The special items for that model are thin on the ground.
The BMW goes onto the ramps when the Jag is ready. One of the mechanics is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to all things BMW. I think/know that he cannot wait to tackle this car and get it 'back on its wheels' again. (I posted before about his pet project classic M3 that is on YT, being driven by Dani Sordo).
Last edited by thieuster; 29th November 2023 at 16:35.
I had an MGB with a Webasto roof, the roof was awful, even after I had it replaced (two or three of the corners of the roof had to be welded where I assume vibrations had weakened the metal). I had the work done at a garage in Aldershot whose owner had either Romulus or Remus, I remember having a good look over it when I went in to collect the car. A friend of mine ended up with the MG and cut off the whole roof, to replace it with a donor with no sunroof. It looks so much better without.
Which reminds me, I'm on a friend's insurance on his Od English White XK120 with red interior. It's been mostly off the road these last four or five years but should be back driving again in 2024, I have one or two drives planned with that! Still had a Speedie last time I drove it:
"A man of little significance"
Love that BMW. When I was a kid I dreamt of a car in that blue colour. So classy. Looking forward to the updates
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Absolutely gorgeous. Far more chance getting me to be an EV adopter if they went retro look like these than some of the hideous plastic nose futuristic attempts that manufacturers hope to attract buyers with!
I was 12, 13 y/o when that car came on the market. A family at the end of the road had one. In a grey-ish colour. And I think it was an early one, the 2500cc version, perhaps.Originally Posted by dandanthewatchman
The one in the shop has this light-coloured leather. Let's call it 'parchment' or 'ivory' for now. Point is, I searched the internet, but I haven't found a picture of a similar car with this colour interior. And the fact that this car does NOT have an automatic gearbox. Back then, a car with a 'normal' gearbox was considered 'sporty'. The sporty steering wheel looks in far better shape than other interior parts. Perhaps that's from a later date. I like those curious details.
Love old BMWs
I was in Munich BMW Museum on Sunday
3.0 CSI my favourite
Iain Tyrell over on YT recently featured his Ferrari 360. Put in a barn with 14k miles on the clock and there it stayed until he got offered it. Worth a watch to see it being refurbished
There's a guy I know who owns one; a metallic blue one. He drives it sparsely. I'll try to find some pics of that car (these were on an old phone). He also owns a... BMW M1. Not the poxy modern one, but the real deal that BMW built at the end of the 70s. He owns a white one. But honestly, I've never seen it IRL with him behind the wheel. I've only seen pictures of the car in his workshop.
As daily driver, he drives a BMW/Alpina B3. To give you an idea how far his love for BMW goes!
Lucky guy
Seen the M1 on Sunday as well
A pity they didn't rustproof those cars at the factory like they do now.
There would be loads of classics flying around!
Cheers,
Neil.
Work on the Beemer has started. And this one doesn't let down: all repairs are straightforward. The only thing bugging is the bodged wiring under the dash. Oh well, there was a cooking-pan sized colorful spaghetti-junk in the driver's footwell this morning.
One rule when you're in the market to buy a classic car: when you see the use of 'scotch blocks' walk away! These always cause trouble.
The Jaguar is nearly finished. The woodwork is installed and today we were busy cleaning out the boot. Sadly we found a few pin-holes under the spare wheel. But that's an easy repair.
The owner of the Jag (or the previous one) has pulled and interesting trick. My pics show that the car's interior is red. And with these Jaguars, the boot lining is the same colour as the interior. But somewhere in its life, a person had the bright idea to have the boot's metal parts sprayed in the same red colour as the lining! I forgot to take a picture, but it looks phenomenal! Jaguar (like other British brands) didn't want to waste paint, so often a part of paint that's not visible is different colour. I remember seeing an early Triumph TR2 with a pink chassis! There's a chance that it wasn't red in the first place, but that someone was inspired by the '2-tone paint job' and made good use of the idea behind Jaguar's paint policy.
Anyway, pics of the cabinet making exercise...
And then, there's this beauty: Rover P5B. Not the Coupe, sadly. The Coupe is high on my all-time list of beautiful cars. This June 1970 car came to our country in 1980 and only has had (still has) one owner since that date. LHD P5Bs are really rare here. Most are imported RHDs. (Somehow, in the back of my mind, I vaguely remember that there used to be a RHD -> LHD conversion kit)
Last edited by thieuster; 8th December 2023 at 20:07.
Posting Permissions
