of all the stupidest ideas every posited on this forum

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corsachili

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This is really stupid, but I have to know.........

Next February I will be in Barcelona for the World Mobile Congress, formerly "3GSM". My wife and mother-in-law, who is the coolest mother-in-laws of all time, no offense to all you other mother-in-laws, but she is the real slim shady (in the parlance of our times), and will be taking my young bride Chela around Germany while I'm toiling away evangelizing whatever it is we evangelize. Once my duties at WMC are done, I'm meant to fly to Germany, meet up with aforementioned coolest mother-in-law and young bride, to celebrate my birthday in Germany, culminating in driving Nurburgring.

So I started to research it............and I wondered what kind of car I could rent that would be worthy of the ghosts of Fangio, Stuck, Moss, and Jarno. And then I wondered..........how cool would it be to drive the Cowpoke Racing CSL on said Nurburgring..............which means it would have to be shipped over, which means, how much would it cost?

So..................anyone know how much round trip is to Germany for a car? What sort of bureaucratic hoops can I expect to have to jump through?
 
Small world David............I work for Boingo.........so we founders. We both have Sky Dayton to thank for our employment. I work for Colby........assume you've spoken with him at some point.

Ping me at [email protected] if you want to talk business.

Are you going to WMC?

Regards,
TJ
 
A thought,
Not sure what the S&H (and customs drama) would be to ship your beloved Coupe home to the Fatherland, but if you are pressed for time and want the fastest ride around da 'Ring, consider taking the "The 'Ring Taxi" driven by a local female hotshoe in a new 5er. She'll have you checking your shorts as she blows by everyone out there. I think she does sub-9min laps..........with three passengers :shock:

If you want to drive it yourself, consider taking a rental....car or racer.
Be sure to check the 'Rings schedule, my brother got there to drive it in a rental 3series and their website failed to list that the day he showed up as one of the only days the track is closed........ :evil:

have fun!!
-shanon
 
To answer your question
You can rent for the usual suspects, Hertz, Eurocar (National in the US) Budget, Sitx etc. Usually you find that in Germany you will be offered various models of Ford, VW, Opel (GM), Skoda, lower variant Mercs, Audis and sometimes BMW.
There are "specialised" car rental companies in Germany who will rent you flash Mercedes, Porshe, BMW and a like - web search your best bet

If your going for a thrash around the Ring it's 25 Euros a go However what ever car you have, rental, your own, stolen, borrowed, there is no insurance cover - you bend it you mend it. plus pay for the costs of recovery! If your injured you will have to pay the costs of your treatment.
I can't remember if a crash helmet is mandatory now but I would wear one!
Best to go during the week, less crowded! Watch out for the owner who's name I cannot remember. She is the daughter of a famous German racing driver and was once on BBC Top Gear thrashing a Diesel Transit Van around the course. She was beating some very exotic machinery!!!


Thinking out of the box I would be tempted to go through the local papers /Geman/Spanish Ebay and look for a Lancia Delta Integrale, especially an older 8 or 16 valve.
Plenty of room for the 3 of you and an absolute hoot to drive. You can pick up a very reasonable one for 5000 Euros, which sounds a lot but is actually cheap when you add up the cost of a flash rental for a week or two. You can also take it home with you as a personal import!
You should be able to arrange insurance (Mandatory in Europe, big big fines if caught without) for a reasonable cost.
Malc
 
I work in Frankfurt and am fairly regular at the Ring, usually with Sixt rentals (5-series BMW or Audi A6). Cost last time I checked was EUR14 for a lap. Its definitely a grey area as for being allowed by the rental companies - some of them even say so in the fine print. Malc is right about insurance! Sixt rents Porsche 997s, Caymans and Boxsters for around EUR 400-600 per day plus mileage.

Several ways to ship your car - either in a container for something special, or in bulk roll-on/roll-off. The container ran about $3k each way when I last checked about two years ago, but shipping rates are now at all time highs, so I'm sure its more. The good news is that if its only going to be in country for a short time (ie, for a show, rally or race), then there is no duty.

I've been considering buying a Dedicated Ring Car together with some buddies for awhile, but never pulled the trigger. Its defintiely the best way to go. Check out http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/ for the best writeup.
 
Let's develop the stupid idea.

1) Have your company pay for shipping the car as a prop for the 3GSM show. Nothing attracts visitors like cars in a non car show (well nothing
is an exaggeration, there is always that).
We used to own a GM EV1 wired with lots of electronics for show demos.
A CSL with some mobile gear inside, some company decals, you are done.

2) Drive the CSL from Barcelona to Germany. Triumphal entry for one lap.

3) Hook up with Malc in Germany, place Malc in CSL trunk for a free trip
to California.
 
TJ,
hats off for creativity , a noble thought but there is 1 huge flaw in the plan.
Namely wtf are you thinking, Europe in Febuary is gonna be Wet & Cold and there also could be snow on them there mountains.Very rough seas as well.

Hate to put a damper on the plans,

Have fun

PJ
 
Yeah the weather maybe grim but theres nothing like an opposite lock full throttle slide around the 'Ring with the mother in law sitting in the back :wink:
Malc
 
I can get you 635csi with turbo engine and 400bhp (850csi brakes as well) not cheap and if totaled would be expensive :)
 
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