LRP event on Labor Day

Truck

Even though the PPI by a British specialist shop gave it a clean bill of health, I decides the drive back was too risky. Found a fair priced shipper, $1700 door to door.

Good thing too: we pulled the body off after a long shake down drive. Too many strange and disturbing signs of a things amiss. Body comes off in five minutes!
The car turns out to be quite a bit of a mess. Despite being professionally built and having only a few thousand miles of use (over 28 years) it's full of dangerous kludges and near failing Parts. Example, steering column U-joints were
so loose the upper steering shaft had nearly completely pulled out ( that'd be an exciting way to see if the brakes pulled to the side!)

The top of the fuel tank filler wasn't tight to the monza style filler cap so gas was sloshing out on hard left turns.
Two of the coolant hoses are deeply cracked and could go any moment. Battery cable was rubbing on the differential. That would have been spectacular... Sparks and
Blown fuses on right turns. And so on... It'll take all winter and many thou to get this car safe for touring or track days. But when it's done it's going to be a giant killer!

We've be working likens to get it safe to drive to lime rock on Saturday.
There's a chance it
Might still break down on the trip.

Lessons learned: PPI's are often worthless inless you are 100% foliar woth thw ahop sping the work. You should always go see the car in person.
I should have used German master tech rather than an unfamiliar brit shop.
 
i expect to be at LRP for Saturday's races, camping the in-field Saturday night, enjoying the car show Sunday, then avoiding our fine Massachusetts State Troopers on the way home Sunday afternoon.

All coupe folks welcome to sit and relax at camp-vbigdog.

Tom

I never considered camping! That sounds like a plan for next year!
 
Camping

Stan,
I usually camp when I go to the UK and EU for classic car events, and like staying track side and to being unconstrained by the normal hotel/inn etiquette.
But You have to be a camping person to appreciate lining up for the johns or showers with 500 other people, or dealing with rain (Le Mans Classic this summer). At least your E9 has plenty of space for gear.

It would be cool to get a group of e9coupe people to camp together so we could share cooking, bench racing, trade beer songs and classic car tales etc.

John
 
LimeRock Concours Sunday in the Park

It was a great day at Limerock today, the 30th anniversary of the Historics Festival which honored Sir Stirling Moss. On a day when I left my Agave home, I had great chance to view the entire range, wearing myself out in the process, of fantastic cars this event attracts.

The "Speed with Style Class- 2 door coupes from 1971 - 1985" was stocked with a very strong array of 24 cars that included a Momo Mirage, a Dino Ferrari, a pair of Panteras, Aston Martin, Corvettes and the E9's of "The Usual Suspects: John, Tod, Michael and Duane...though Len was missing." Tom...glad you enjoyed camping out...and I hope you bring your coupe next year.

I can never be objective about coupes, as they all looked awesome. (Tod...your newly affixed front bumper gets a thumbs up for its aggressive preppy stance & look!!, John...your classy coupe and matching 2002 makes for a tough choice...so why not bring both?, Michael, your Agave and its paint finish is superb!!, and Duane, your Alpina makes us all glad that you're on our team...lol!!)

Congrats Duane on finishing 2nd in class...though I'm not sure what the judges saw in giving the Momo first in class. Oh well, everyone makes mistakes...lol!!
 
Why so few 2002s?

I was parked next to the BMW's on Saturday (parked the W11 with the Lotus folks). Lots of nice cars, but rather fewer 2002's that I expected. In fact, were there MORE E9's? Duane, you came it pretty late but your car looked incredible, as always.

For those of you who saw the races on Sat, wasn't it impressive how fast the CSL was? It pulled away from the start, and easily lapped the field in short order. Donovan's Jags had a great dice with a purple Porsche, which kept the race interesting. The pic is lap 1 which is the only lap where the rest of the field stayed remotely close to the CSL. 2 E-types are Donovan's. Give them a break as the E-type was introduced in 1961 and the E9 CSL a decade later.

Misc: Got off the Pike at Westfield and drove Route 23 to Great Barrington. It was not much slower, and a much nicer drive than route 7. Highly recommend you squeeze in an extra 20-30min the next time you're going to Lime Rock (from the east) and take this back road.

Sorry about the poor picture quality.
 

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Lrp

Lime Rock was a good day had by all though brutally hot and humid at times. We've added Tom of Vbigdog fame to our LRP click who came in his pretty E-type. DBcouper from Colorado stopped by as well. I will be haunting you when I am in Colorado next!

This event was their best one yet from an organizational standpoint though the turn out was lower then past years we surmised due to ticket prices. The organizers are trying hard to turn it into a premier car enthusiast event. We'll see. Pretty cool to see Sir Stirling Moss there.

The line up and variety of cars across the entire show was impressive in addition to what you can see if you walk the paddocks and parking lots. Class 19 had a good variety many of which we had not seen before which was great. Duane did garner a well deserved second place though Michael's Agave continues to look better and better - the paint depth is just awesome. Clearly, the competition is increasing year to year.

John Sullivan of Boston CCA fame came by and spoke of a potential BMW corral next year. John also spanked Duane and me on the way home. Came out of no where in his 635 and then left us like we were standing still which I assure you, we were not. Well done, John.

Discussions are already well underway for next year. We need more coupes - really no reason why we can't have 10+ there. Chuck, sorry I missed you, I enjoy catching up with you each year and John, sorry we did not connect.
 
Great weekend at LRP. I sense the tradition with the annual E9 pilgrimage.

In addition to the highlights made by Chuck, John and Tod here's a few other moments that stood out:

* if LRP wants to draw a crowd they should halve the ticket prices
* Given accommodations are limited and expensive for the Berkshires location and long weekend the organizers should encourage more folks to RV or camp without a $200 fee
* the Delahaye was spectacular amongst the vintage classics
* my favorite modern car on display was the Spyker C6; outrageous in every way and I want one!

Finally, a guy dropped by to check out my coupe, he started chatting about how his first sports car that he purchased new was a 3.0CSi after seriously considering a Ferrari but thought the BMW was fast, pretty and practical... the Ferrari just wasn't what he considered practical or reliable. Anyway we were talking about coupes and I asked what he drove to LRP.... He then goes on to say that he is a guest of BMW to race the #25 BMW CSL for the weekend! Wow. I saw the race where the CSL finished nearly the full length of the main straight ahead of the Jaguars, and then Simon (the driver) says he could have gone harder if BMW didn't put a rev-limiter to 6000rpm given the beast goes up to 9000rpm with ease...

This may not be close to peering with Monterey or Goodwood but the organizers are trying. This was my 7th time attending though only my 4th with the coupe.
 
Saturday photo

Stan-

Congrats on your first grand. You need a Recaro tot seat for the back! See you next year.

Some pics attached from Saturday. Pics don't do the experience justice. When the #25 fired up, shoe laces flapped in the exhaust gasses and engine howl was simply mahvelous.
The Donovan Jags usually finish 1-2 every year. It was good to see some humble pie dished out (in spite of an unfair contest).
 

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More from LRP Saturday.
 

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$$$$ shot of my coupe from Limerock

Photo of my CS taken while exiting Limerock Park on Sunday event over Labor Day weekend.

Thanks Jay for sharing.
 

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The plan, so far, is to head over early Saturday to watch the vintage races, camp on Saturday night, and then attend the show on Sunday. We're still working out the dining and beverage activities for Saturday evening. If you are a showing on Sunday, LRP also offers a voucher at an additional charge which I believe gets you breakfast on Sunday morning.

Its been a couple of years since I attended the races so I am really looking forward to them. Much more fun than the show, frankly, especially Saturday evening.

Camping info here >> http://www.limerock.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=90

LRP also has the uncanny ability to have picture perfect weather every year though it will be hard to beat this past weekend.
 
Catering

I am in the early stages of sorting food / catering. If you have an interest in joining, (no need to commit) please let me know?

So far:
Duane
Tod
Stan
Tom
 
I'll be there but just Saturday

I plan on arriving before 8AM and departing around 5pm.
Would like to park with the BMW guys (even though I won't be driving BMW).
Who, if anyone, organizes the BMW area parking (I assume it's up by the skid-pad again)?

John Feng
 
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