New projects, Taiga and Inka

[johanaxelson]

Hi all, I've been absent for a while and have a bunch to catch up on here. Have just had too much work and other stuff going on, worked in three different countries the last few years so relocations have been a chore but now I am in Panama and will stay 2-3 years so it is time to get back to E9ing!

The Baikal will finally be done this winter, me and the guy just kept postponing the last bits.

Then, I have two new projects. I was offered one (Taiga) and said yes because who can say no to that? And just two weeks after the same guy stumbled over an Inka and offered me that. Even harder to say no to. One is already with Miklos and the other on its way down there.

Anyway, the VINs and colors are validated with BMW and the cars are:
- 1975 CS Taiga with sunroof, matching numbers, black interior.
- 1974 CSi Inka, non matching numbers, black interior.

The Taiga had just been "renovated" and was freshly painted as Fjord but will go bare metal again, bad welds and patches fixed and be repainted as Taiga. It looks like it is mostly rust free but Miklos will take it apart as per usual and check everything. Should be a fairly simple project. It will remain as stock as possible, I may swap to leather on the seats, add an A/C if I find an original one and go for Webers. Tan interior would be nice but it is not stock so I don't know, thoughts?

The Inka is another thing, quite a bit of rust, more than I'd like but it also comes with a lot of new panels (visible in pictures) from W&N which compensates quite a bit for it. A bunch of work has been done, just need to see how good it is, looks OK in pictures but... It comes with a nice looking 3.5L engine, supposedly restored 10-15 years ago and not driven, plus a spare engine from a 3.0SA. Seats are pre-1974, i.e. vertical but I'll redo them in leather and correctly horizontal instead. Apart from that It will be as stock as possible.

Both cars are supposedly complete, is a bit hard to judge when in this state but I hope nothing difficult is missing.


I don't know much more about the cars. have asked previous owners to write down what they know. I will of course add to registry.

Pictures below, enjoy.


Inka video :

Johan

 

[johanaxelson]

More pics

 

[johanaxelson]

and even more

 

[johanaxelson]

Pics of the Taiga, not much to say, you can see where we need to fix poor patching/welding.

 

[E9Eric]

Nice! is the Inka with Miklos? As he wrote that he's restoring an original Inka CSi... Only 11 Inka CSi's were supplied by BMW so you're very lucky

 

[johanaxelson]

Thanks, I was not sure about exact number. It is on its way down there now So he was not referring to mine, he s doing an Inka CSL and has done an Inka CSi but the owner wanted it Chamonix.

BTW, any clue about how many Taiga were made? Can't be too many either.

 

[E9Eric]

That's a shame if he changes such a rare color..... changing a fjord or polaris would be acceptable
I don't know how many Taiga were made, a bit more but also a very rare color!

 

[xjan99]

Nice, I have a Inka CS in about the same condition waiting for the project to start. I wonder how many CS/CSi original Inkas are still left (and how many produced)

 

[sandhu]

Anyone know how many RHD inka csi colours left the factory???

 

[johanaxelson]

I'd love to know how many LHD as well, BMW did certify mine as Inka which feels nice.


From this thread : https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/inka.12171/page-2 there were 11 in total, RHD can't be many of those.

"BMW does not provide / confirm VIN's for some rare colors to prevent abuse / replicas. Inka was only delivered on request of the buyer. From an owner of an original (documentated) Inka CSi I heard that only 11 pcs CSi were delivered by BMW in Inka.

Given the rarity of this color this is not unlikely. "






On another note, last week someone posted pics of their 2.5CSA Inka in an FB group, if it is an original Inka that has to be a rare combo....

 

[Stan]

Thank you for keeping the original wonderful colors!

 

[johanaxelson]

Thanks Stan, the colors are largely why I bought these two though.

 

[johanaxelson]

Chairs done for the Inka. No work has been done on the car yet but this is one step forwards.

For me they look good in the pictures and I am assuming things will change a little over the next few months as the material settles. But I am no expert on this....


These were made by a member here in collaboration with a guy who does interiors. They are using my pre- and post facelift chairs as templates and are planning on supplying them to people with projects like mine. I did not see them in person but they will be sent to Miklos now and I'll get his thought on them.

If anyone is looking for a new interior I can put people in touch.

Johan