I took my 1972 Bavaria out for its longest trip yet. Today clocked in just under 180 miles round trip. My wife and I went on a date day drive (no kids) out to Leavenworth, WA, crossing over the Cascade Mountains into Eastern Washington. This felt like a huge milestone for the car. The last time the car crossed had the mountain pass was nearly 18 months ago; strapped to a rental tow dolly the day I brought it home.
Having owned the car for a year and a half now, it feels like the vast majority of that time has been spent with the car up on jack stands in the garage, slowly checking off refresh projects. Today was the ultimate test to see how far all that parts sleuthing and wrenching has come, and to finally transition from fixing it to actually enjoying it.
The drive was incredible. We were blessed with fabulous weather, stunning mountain scenery, and some uninterrupted time together. The car ran and drove flawlessly. My wife was particularly impressed with how remarkably smooth the ride was and how light and nimble the chassis felt through the mountain turns. Though I will say, the funniest moment was when passing a couple slower cars coming over Stevens Pass, my wife grabbed at my arm as is we were re-entering the Earth's atmosphere as she kept telling me not to 'push it too hard.' I think after seeing it sitting on jack stands for a year and a half, she was hypnotized into believing the car was made of glass. I had to reassure her that 4,000 RPMs wasn't going to break anything.
It was a deeply rewarding day and a great reminder of why we pour so much time into keeping these E3s and E9s on the road. Looking forward to putting many more mountain miles on it before the season wraps up!
Prost!
Paulaner
Having owned the car for a year and a half now, it feels like the vast majority of that time has been spent with the car up on jack stands in the garage, slowly checking off refresh projects. Today was the ultimate test to see how far all that parts sleuthing and wrenching has come, and to finally transition from fixing it to actually enjoying it.
The drive was incredible. We were blessed with fabulous weather, stunning mountain scenery, and some uninterrupted time together. The car ran and drove flawlessly. My wife was particularly impressed with how remarkably smooth the ride was and how light and nimble the chassis felt through the mountain turns. Though I will say, the funniest moment was when passing a couple slower cars coming over Stevens Pass, my wife grabbed at my arm as is we were re-entering the Earth's atmosphere as she kept telling me not to 'push it too hard.' I think after seeing it sitting on jack stands for a year and a half, she was hypnotized into believing the car was made of glass. I had to reassure her that 4,000 RPMs wasn't going to break anything.
It was a deeply rewarding day and a great reminder of why we pour so much time into keeping these E3s and E9s on the road. Looking forward to putting many more mountain miles on it before the season wraps up!
Prost!
Paulaner
