James
Well-Known Member
Hi everybody. One of my earliest memories is sneaking into the garage and sitting in my dad's 74 3.0 CS, feeling the wheel, smelling the leather and gasoline, and listening to the clock's mechanical tic-tic tic-tic.
This past September, my girlfriend and I took that same Chamonix e9 up the coast for a weekend getaway and some abalone diving. The first night we drove into Guerneville for dinner and as I was parking, a guy pulls up in a Volvo Bertone and compliments me on the car, adding that he owns a shop in town and knows a guy with a couple of "those BMWs" for sale. I immediately exchange numbers with the guy and agree to meet up the following afternoon.
The following day, we head to the coast, I get my limit of abs, and we head back towards Guerneville. Once I get reception, I start calling. No answer. I probably called ten times. I was frustrated, but the girlfriend was being a good sport, so we drove into town anyway. Kept calling, no answer. So I started looking for the shop he mentioned. After half an hour or so, on the outskirts of town, heading east, I saw a small garage with a bunch of Volvos, 2002s and some American iron. I slam on the brakes, leave it running, squeak open the door, and find an old Alfa GTV Junior and an early e24 inside. And there is the guy from the previous evening. He's somewhat busy working on the Alfa, but I am excited and nagging. I head back out to the car, shut it off, come back with the girlfriend and an abalone, and we were headed off to look at the car in a matter of minutes.
After 30 minutes of driving back to the West, along the river, in the redwoods under an old cover, there was a car parked across the street from a beautiful house on the Russian River. In the garage there was a beautiful e9 parked next to a 2002. This CS looked to be nicer than what I wanted to spend, but I was curious about what was across the street. I was introduced to the owner, who was a very nice guy. Apparently both were for sale, more or less, though neither had been formally listed. The nice one was more expensive, as expected, but across the street, the cover was removed and I was intrigued. There was mold on the crappy white paint, some rust bubbles, but I hopped in, and though he said he hadn't driven it in 3 months, with the help of a little starter fluid, she fired right up! I took her for a test drive, and everything felt great, a squeaky belt and bit of an exhaust leak, but altogether good.
Needless to say, and to end an altogether too long introduction, I was back in a few days and bought the car for what seemed like a very fair price. I drove the car until it started raining, and have planned on restoring it this winter. I'm a crab fisherman, and our season here has been postponed. The catch 22 is that now I have plenty of free time, yet feel like I can't spend the money on the car when I'm not working. She sits at my dad's house now, nestled between his 74 e9, and my brother's 74 Bavaria. I've always wanted one, and I'm enjoying fixing her up.
That's it for now!
James
This past September, my girlfriend and I took that same Chamonix e9 up the coast for a weekend getaway and some abalone diving. The first night we drove into Guerneville for dinner and as I was parking, a guy pulls up in a Volvo Bertone and compliments me on the car, adding that he owns a shop in town and knows a guy with a couple of "those BMWs" for sale. I immediately exchange numbers with the guy and agree to meet up the following afternoon.
The following day, we head to the coast, I get my limit of abs, and we head back towards Guerneville. Once I get reception, I start calling. No answer. I probably called ten times. I was frustrated, but the girlfriend was being a good sport, so we drove into town anyway. Kept calling, no answer. So I started looking for the shop he mentioned. After half an hour or so, on the outskirts of town, heading east, I saw a small garage with a bunch of Volvos, 2002s and some American iron. I slam on the brakes, leave it running, squeak open the door, and find an old Alfa GTV Junior and an early e24 inside. And there is the guy from the previous evening. He's somewhat busy working on the Alfa, but I am excited and nagging. I head back out to the car, shut it off, come back with the girlfriend and an abalone, and we were headed off to look at the car in a matter of minutes.
After 30 minutes of driving back to the West, along the river, in the redwoods under an old cover, there was a car parked across the street from a beautiful house on the Russian River. In the garage there was a beautiful e9 parked next to a 2002. This CS looked to be nicer than what I wanted to spend, but I was curious about what was across the street. I was introduced to the owner, who was a very nice guy. Apparently both were for sale, more or less, though neither had been formally listed. The nice one was more expensive, as expected, but across the street, the cover was removed and I was intrigued. There was mold on the crappy white paint, some rust bubbles, but I hopped in, and though he said he hadn't driven it in 3 months, with the help of a little starter fluid, she fired right up! I took her for a test drive, and everything felt great, a squeaky belt and bit of an exhaust leak, but altogether good.
Needless to say, and to end an altogether too long introduction, I was back in a few days and bought the car for what seemed like a very fair price. I drove the car until it started raining, and have planned on restoring it this winter. I'm a crab fisherman, and our season here has been postponed. The catch 22 is that now I have plenty of free time, yet feel like I can't spend the money on the car when I'm not working. She sits at my dad's house now, nestled between his 74 e9, and my brother's 74 Bavaria. I've always wanted one, and I'm enjoying fixing her up.
That's it for now!
James
