End of an era and the last of the E9s... Otto Zippers plan failed!

[execmalibu]

I spoke with a salesman who is now with Rolls Royce but worked at Otto Zipper BMW in Beverly Hills from around 1973-1976...

He remembers that after BMW announced the E9 was being discontinued that Otto Zipper waited and then he ordered a few of the very last of the US E9s all fully loaded (Sunroofs,Air, Leather etc) to keep. He said that Zipper was betting that once E9 production ceased that the cars would appreciate rapidly like the Mercedes 280SL, 280SE Convertible and the Ferrari Dinos and Daytonas had...

Apparently after waiting 5 months the demand for the E9 was not anywhere near what Otto had hoped and he dealer traded my 3.0CSA (built 12/74) to Century BMW who finally sold the car in late May 1975 probably for below sticker being a 1974 model.... According to the original warranty book this all seems likely to be true.. The car stayed in Beverly Hills and returned to Zipper for the warranty service...

It is VERY interesting that many of the other European cars of that same period seemed to appreciated a lot more then the E9s... Porsches, Mercedes, Ferrari, Jags, Jensen etc all became ultra collectible at one point and were very expensive sometimes 6-8 times their cost when new!... Even the lowly English cars like the MGs/Triumphs and then the Muscle and even Semi-Muscle cars seemed to be in more demand then the normal E9s (not CSL, Bats etc) which is Amazing to me...

 

[HB Chris]

Where was Century BMW located? There is now a Century West in North Hollywood that was Bob Reuhman prior to that, there is a New Century in Alhambra that was Helane Motors I believe. I have Dealer Service book copies from `67, `69 and `70 and Otto isn't listed but I agree he sold BMWs, perhaps you had to pay extra to get into BMW's service booklet? There sure are a lot of tiny dealers who made it into the books. Looks like it became BMW of Beverly Hills around `91.

Back in `74 I don't think any dealers were moving very many coupes, they were pretty expensive and sat for quite a while. Funny that Otto would buy extras just in case. It is very neat that you have the original warranty book, many of us would kill to find out even a brief bit of our coupe's history.

If anyone has `71 and later dealer service directories I would love a scan of the pages on California including the publication date on the outside rear cover. If anyone wants a copy of my list for southern CA let me know.

 

[duane_sword]

great story!

well... if in doubt, blame it on Bangle

 

[execmalibu]

Century was in Alhambra....

Century motors was in Alhambra... I noticed that the dealer service center book given in the late 1974 cars still shows that in Alhambra it was Helane Motors on W. Beverly... But my Warranty book has a stamp from both Century Motor Sales and also Century BMW on W. Main in Alhambra... So Helane BMW was sold and was moved or changed their name in and moved late 1974. The book does list Zipper BMW of Beverly Hills on Wilshire...

In 1971 (June) Mom bought a 1600/2 new from BMW Auto Center (now Center BMW) still in Van Nuys... We first went to a tiny dealer called Reseda Imports they sold English cars and BMWs... They were very rude to my Mom and did not realize she had cash in hand to get her crazy 16 year son out of that "Wicked" Austin Healy 3000 and get him into the then "safest car"... So we went to Center and one hour and $3,400 later I was in a new BMW...


I scaned the warranty book...

 

[HB Chris]

Could you possibly scan the entire section on California and email it to me? Adress is in my profile. Publication date would also be most appreciated, roman numeral month/year on back cover.

 

[execmalibu]

HB Chris, Whats your email? I can not attach...

I did not see a place for attachments on the site email link...

The date is 40 V 74 (40th week, 5th day 1974) Oct. 5th 1974...


Please email to [email protected] and I will send the pages...

 

[61porsche]

end of an era

Ok... what happened to the Healy?:mrgreen: ( Ex Healy/ AC owner)

Suggestion- scan the whole thing since very few exist and it could be posted in literature/ tech info sometime?

 

[execmalibu]

AC Owner eh?... I owned and raced one of those AC cars...

I owned a 1965 AC that some woman from Texas named Carroll brought from England without a motor... She and a few of her friends put a Ford Station Wagon motor in that AC... I remember it was a four 2 seven or something... She had a name for the car some type of dangerous reptile I think...:mrgreen:
She forgot the mufflers and the car sure was loud and attacked a lot of attention every time I drove it...

CSX-3127 first 427 Cobra used for press photos, shipped to Shelby American in raw Aluminum and repainted several colors so the press would think there were a lot of them... Dumbest thing I ever did after 15 years was to sell the car back in 2003...

Interesting that I have the US supplement, The Original Warranty Book, The Dealer guide but NO Owners Manual... Anyone one have an ORIGINAL 1974 owners manual?

The Dealer book is 40+ pages because it includes both BMW bike and car dealers for the whole world and would be a pain in the ass to scan...

 

[d-ace]

Quote
“execmalibu”

“It is VERY interesting that many of the other European cars of that same period seemed to appreciated a lot more then the E9s... Porsches, Mercedes, Ferrari, Jags, Jensen etc all became ultra collectible at one point and were very expensive sometimes 6-8 times their cost when new!
... Even the lowly English cars like the MGs/Triumphs and then the Muscle and even Semi-Muscle cars seemed to be in more demand then the normal E9s (not CSL, Bats etc) which is Amazing to me..”

I am with you on that one “execmalibu”, lets add Morris Miner’s and VW have a better value too….
Even in the 1990’s here in Santa Barbara California most the actors in Montecito (New Beverly Hills) drove E9’s, Lee J. Cobb, Michael Douglas, I even seen Robert Mitchum in one once.
A good CSI in those days went for around $45K. Whomever ran the price of these E9 BMW's in the ground I hope they are proud of themselves because now who is going to put any $$$ in to them when most just want to pay less than a restored VW….
So now as they are doing a great BMW model just rust away......