"Friends of BMW" Brochure

CSteve

CSteve

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
4,165
Reaction score
1,558
Location
Bucks County, PA
I found my 1999 edition of "Friends of BMW" brochure when I was going through my collection of BMW books, brochures, manuals, etc. More than 1,000 BMW CCA members and all U.S. BMW dealers are listed. Each member listing included the name, phone number(land line of course), residence and business address. Followed by what each member could offer: work space, 4 or 6 cylinder parts, tools, spare room or coach, access to a professional mechanic on weekends, coffee and conversation. This was followed by the level of professional expertise of the member: Professional, good, fair, nil.

Member information was followed by a listing of US, Canadian, European, Icelandcic(ring a familiar bell?), Pacific Rim and Military Addresses. But here is where it gets interesting in a historical perspective. There is an alphabetical listing by state of the BMW dealers for each state. For California, the epicenter of the early BMW universe, I counted 30 dealers. Could there be 30 dealers in business today in CA? I wonder. Two names that stand out, Vasek Polak and Peter Pan Motors. What a trip as we used to say.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1900 (1).jpg
    IMG_1900 (1).jpg
    18.4 KB · Views: 23
CSteve said:
I found my 1999 edition of "Friends of BMW" brochure when I was going through my collection of BMW books, brochures, manuals, etc. More than 1,000 BMW CCA members and all U.S. BMW dealers are listed. Each member listing included the name, phone number(land line of course), residence and business address. Followed by what each member could offer: work space, 4 or 6 cylinder parts, tools, spare room or coach, access to a professional mechanic on weekends, coffee and conversation. This was followed by the level of professional expertise of the member: Professional, good, fair, nil.

Member information was followed by a listing of US, Canadian, European, Icelandcic(ring a familiar bell?), Pacific Rim and Military Addresses. But here is where it gets interesting in a historical perspective. There is an alphabetical listing by state of the BMW dealers for each state. For California, the epicenter of the early BMW universe, I counted 30 dealers. Could there be 30 dealers in business today in CA? I wonder. Two names that stand out, Vasek Polak and Peter Pan Motors. What a trip as we used to say.
Click to expand...

I just checked the number of California BMW dealerships and got two answers, 51 and 54. There are so many large cities in each major metro area that there are multiple ones to choose from. I can think of nine in the SF Bay Area just off the top of my head.
 
I have some earlier editions of that annual pub (late 70's, IIRC) and they were very helpful if you traveled. Many states had zero dealers.
 
When I travelled from Toronto to Vancouver with a stop in Banff in 1971 in my brand new 1600 via Trans Canada 1, not a single dealer from Sault Ste Marie the whole route. Probably no shops either.

But my car was carefully broken in and purred at 85 mph the whole way. Of the 12 classics I have owned this was the only brand new one. $3,000 from Autobahn Motors in Trenton, NJ.
 
When I bought my 2002 in Charlotte, NC, in 1972, it was the only dealer in the city. I lived in Hickory, about 65 miles away, and had the only BMW in the town. There was no reason to buy the Tii for another $500. It needed premium gas, and nobody knew how to work on fuel injection.
 
Drew Gregg said:
When I bought my 2002 in Charlotte, NC, in 1972, it was the only dealer in the city. I lived in Hickory, about 65 miles away, and had the only BMW in the town. There was no reason to buy the Tii for another $500. It needed premium gas, and nobody knew how to work on fuel injection.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know that story (not buying the Tii). My great grandfather had the opportunity to buy orange grove land way out in an undeveloped area of LA, on a road known as Calle de los Indios (now called Wilshire Blvd. - or as he is reported to have said it Will-SHIRE Blvd.).."Who would ever want to farm out there?"...
 
When I bought the Great White in 2002, I flew to LAX to get it and started my drive home. Friends of BMW was in th glove box and when I had a blow out in Ohio, my travel schedule got disrupted. I called a few members in the Dayton area to get recommendation for a good tire shop and stayed at their house that evening.
I think this is something that @Dirk should consider doing for the CCCA as CCA is likely not interested and we and the '02 community would benefit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top