Hi fellow E9 owners, admirers, groupies and lurkers

[Frankie]

Hi - I joined today to connect with other owners and those knowledgeable and passionate in all things E9.

After owning a few BMWs (320i, 520i, M6) I bought my first E9 - a 1975 RHD 3.0 CSI (the red car) and reluctantly sold it in 2007. I knew one day it would be a rare and collectable classic. Over the years I’ve watched prices steadily increase and recently skyrocket, lamenting that I’ll never own another.

And then (queue the drum roll)… I discovered a real-life “barn find” right here in Auckland New Zealand - a 1972 3.0 CSi - that has been stored in a garage since 1987 - unused and untouched and now it’s mine!!!!

It’s a restoration project that I hope won’t take as long as my last restoration of a 1983 Ferrari 308GTSiQV, which took 3 years. I’ll post updates on here as it progresses.

Sadly I can’t collect the car yet as we're currently in Covid lockdown that I hope will end soon but I’m so excited I had to share.

Cheers,
Frankie
Auckland
New Zealand

 

[Arde]

Congratulations Frankie! Hope you restore the barn find in Verona red, just for nostalgic reasons.
Else if you kept a spare Verona key go swap cars in the middle of the night, you know the car must be home during lock down.
It is an island (or two), how far can Verona be?

 

[Frankie]

Haha - I think the owner would know if it was swapped. Having said that I think the red car doesn't exist any more. I heard a rumour the guys that bought it didn't really know what they had as it was a time when the E9 was nowhere near as desirable or valuable as it is now. I believe they replaced the engine with a V8 and used it for rally sprints and hill climbs!
I've researched the registration and it was de-registered the following year, so that kind of supports the rumour. Given only around 207 RHD cars were made overall I guess that makes the survivors rarer and even more valuable.