Matt Dusig
Member
I bought this car in the summer of 2018. I've talked to all the owners and I thought I'd post the history from speaking with the original owner who bought the car in 1974.
The original owner became inspired to buy a 3.0 while visiting LA. He was in a bike shop and saw actor Peter Fonda and his 3.0 coupe. That started his interest in finding one for himself. A google search turned up that Peter Fonda did have a silver 3.0CS. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-bmw-2002tii-4/ and https://bit.ly/2MdT0Mf.
On a trip to Palm Springs, CA, he knew a guy at the BMW/Mercedes/Rolls Royce dealership. He saw a 1973 3.0CS but didn’t want to buy it because in ’73 the wiper handle and the turn signal levers were reversed, and he felt he’d constantly be turning on the wipers every time he went to make a turn. On the 1974 model, the levers had been changed back.
He went to the 1974 LA Auto Expo and a silver/red 3.0CS was the podium car for BMW. He expressed interest in buying it and was told that the car was bought by Max Hoffman as his personal vehicle and it wasn’t for sale.
He told the Palm Springs dealer he specifically wanted a silver/red car and about a month after the LA Auto Expo, the dealer called and told him that he had the car. Whether it was the same car as the LA Auto Expo isn’t known.
He picked up the car and immediately drove it about 10,000 miles, crossing back and forth across the US on a road trip.
About the car:
The car originally had a Blaupunkt radio. When it stopped working, he replaced it with an Alpine radio. (That radio was replaced with the Kenwood). I've since added the Blaupunkt BMW radio back in the car.
He lost one of the car keys along the way. He had to send his key off to Germany to have it duplicated, which took a few weeks at the time. There are 2 duplicate keys right now. While on the phone with the original owner, he told me he was holding one of the original FC 247 keys and he said he’d mail it to me.
He never re-painted the car, never re-upholstered it, never replaced the carpet. None of the owners have either.
He upgraded the engine with an Alpina valve train, Alpina air box, and Hardy and Beck suspension based in Berkeley, CA. http://www.hbspecialists.com/. He confirmed that the car had at least 300hp at one point, but it was too aggressive for his wife to drive. It was downgraded. The Alpina air box would have been in the trunk when he sold the car, but it was apparently sold at some point.
He decided to sell the car because of new smog regulations that would make it difficult to get the car smog check approved in CA. If not for this, he’d still own the car today.
Since the original owner, there have been 4 other owners besides me. The car has resided in CA, AZ, MT, ID, WA. There's no visible rust anywhere on the car. A local LA mechanic told me it's the cleanest original 3.0 he's ever seen. It was recently written about in the Oct 2018 Driven World magazine: https://issuu.com/drivenworld/docs/dw_oct_2018/36
The original owner became inspired to buy a 3.0 while visiting LA. He was in a bike shop and saw actor Peter Fonda and his 3.0 coupe. That started his interest in finding one for himself. A google search turned up that Peter Fonda did have a silver 3.0CS. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-bmw-2002tii-4/ and https://bit.ly/2MdT0Mf.
On a trip to Palm Springs, CA, he knew a guy at the BMW/Mercedes/Rolls Royce dealership. He saw a 1973 3.0CS but didn’t want to buy it because in ’73 the wiper handle and the turn signal levers were reversed, and he felt he’d constantly be turning on the wipers every time he went to make a turn. On the 1974 model, the levers had been changed back.
He went to the 1974 LA Auto Expo and a silver/red 3.0CS was the podium car for BMW. He expressed interest in buying it and was told that the car was bought by Max Hoffman as his personal vehicle and it wasn’t for sale.
He told the Palm Springs dealer he specifically wanted a silver/red car and about a month after the LA Auto Expo, the dealer called and told him that he had the car. Whether it was the same car as the LA Auto Expo isn’t known.
He picked up the car and immediately drove it about 10,000 miles, crossing back and forth across the US on a road trip.
About the car:
The car originally had a Blaupunkt radio. When it stopped working, he replaced it with an Alpine radio. (That radio was replaced with the Kenwood). I've since added the Blaupunkt BMW radio back in the car.
He lost one of the car keys along the way. He had to send his key off to Germany to have it duplicated, which took a few weeks at the time. There are 2 duplicate keys right now. While on the phone with the original owner, he told me he was holding one of the original FC 247 keys and he said he’d mail it to me.
He never re-painted the car, never re-upholstered it, never replaced the carpet. None of the owners have either.
He upgraded the engine with an Alpina valve train, Alpina air box, and Hardy and Beck suspension based in Berkeley, CA. http://www.hbspecialists.com/. He confirmed that the car had at least 300hp at one point, but it was too aggressive for his wife to drive. It was downgraded. The Alpina air box would have been in the trunk when he sold the car, but it was apparently sold at some point.
He decided to sell the car because of new smog regulations that would make it difficult to get the car smog check approved in CA. If not for this, he’d still own the car today.
Since the original owner, there have been 4 other owners besides me. The car has resided in CA, AZ, MT, ID, WA. There's no visible rust anywhere on the car. A local LA mechanic told me it's the cleanest original 3.0 he's ever seen. It was recently written about in the Oct 2018 Driven World magazine: https://issuu.com/drivenworld/docs/dw_oct_2018/36
