Two score years ago I began my infatuation with German automobiles. Then it was the funny little air cooled sedans built in Wolfsburg and vans built in Hanover. I added several of the convertibles made by Karmann in Osnabrück because what is life without a little sun?
They were so cheap and easy to work on, and they were everywhere. Life was good.
As I got married and responsibilities grew, larger, heavier vehicles replaced the little German machines. A pair of them wore three pointed stars on their nose and they were good, but something was missing.
Years later, I was visiting my daughter in San Francisco and spotted an elegant car in a parking lot as I walked by. Wait! This was something special, I headed back for a better look. Round and round I went, captivated by it's curves, it's stance, as if it were visual poetry pausing for a moment before resuming it's flowing path. The blue and white roundel gave me it's maker and the terse 3.0cs on it's tail gave me a clue to it's history, but why had I not seen the likes of this visionary masterpiece before?
A year later, I was idly perusing the local Maui Craig's List when I spotted an ad for a BMW 2800cs. In poor shape, the ad said, perhaps best broken for parts, the owner lamented. Some quick Google work showed that while this wasn't the car I'd seen in The City, it was a sister. And it was also made by Karmann.
After several attempts, I managed to make contact and an appointment to see the car. It was, in fact, not that bad, but in the owner's eyes, it was damaged goods since he had been promised it was in first class condition and had paid accordingly. This was a man in pain, he loved the car, but was building a house and couldn't take on two large projects at once. After letting the car sit outside for three years, he had decided to sell. Getting him to talk about a price took three months as he was very, very reluctant to part with it.
In the end, after convincing him that I would treat his charge with care and make it the automobile it used to be, he agreed on a price of $3,000. Only as I was watching the tow truck carry it down the drive did he convey that I had paid half of what he had paid for the car. I truly felt his pain as I had been in a similar situation years before.
I started researching and got the engine running after cleaning the carbs and replacing the points with a solid state unit. My time on Maui was at an end and we've moved to Austin Tx. I have continued to collect parts and now the invoices total just over $7,000 for those things I know it needs. There may be more.
Fortunately, the interior of the car is in great shape and it's very complete. I'll begin restoration shortly and will be posting progress to a thread here. I've already gotten a good deal of help here and offer my humble thanks to the many that make this website a great resource for us all.
Ian Sights
1970 2800CS US version, Chamonix over blue vinyl, matching numbers, original wheels
They were so cheap and easy to work on, and they were everywhere. Life was good.
As I got married and responsibilities grew, larger, heavier vehicles replaced the little German machines. A pair of them wore three pointed stars on their nose and they were good, but something was missing.
Years later, I was visiting my daughter in San Francisco and spotted an elegant car in a parking lot as I walked by. Wait! This was something special, I headed back for a better look. Round and round I went, captivated by it's curves, it's stance, as if it were visual poetry pausing for a moment before resuming it's flowing path. The blue and white roundel gave me it's maker and the terse 3.0cs on it's tail gave me a clue to it's history, but why had I not seen the likes of this visionary masterpiece before?
A year later, I was idly perusing the local Maui Craig's List when I spotted an ad for a BMW 2800cs. In poor shape, the ad said, perhaps best broken for parts, the owner lamented. Some quick Google work showed that while this wasn't the car I'd seen in The City, it was a sister. And it was also made by Karmann.
After several attempts, I managed to make contact and an appointment to see the car. It was, in fact, not that bad, but in the owner's eyes, it was damaged goods since he had been promised it was in first class condition and had paid accordingly. This was a man in pain, he loved the car, but was building a house and couldn't take on two large projects at once. After letting the car sit outside for three years, he had decided to sell. Getting him to talk about a price took three months as he was very, very reluctant to part with it.
In the end, after convincing him that I would treat his charge with care and make it the automobile it used to be, he agreed on a price of $3,000. Only as I was watching the tow truck carry it down the drive did he convey that I had paid half of what he had paid for the car. I truly felt his pain as I had been in a similar situation years before.
I started researching and got the engine running after cleaning the carbs and replacing the points with a solid state unit. My time on Maui was at an end and we've moved to Austin Tx. I have continued to collect parts and now the invoices total just over $7,000 for those things I know it needs. There may be more.
Fortunately, the interior of the car is in great shape and it's very complete. I'll begin restoration shortly and will be posting progress to a thread here. I've already gotten a good deal of help here and offer my humble thanks to the many that make this website a great resource for us all.
Ian Sights
1970 2800CS US version, Chamonix over blue vinyl, matching numbers, original wheels
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