rblongboarder
Well-Known Member
Now I know what you're thinking... "Hey! Isn't this the same guy who has the 1970 2800 Project build log?" Yup, that's me... so what's going on? All I can say is.. life is interesting... read on and I'll tell you the story...
Back in 2023, I was searching for an E3 to work on.. and while I was at Laguna Seca, a vehicle popped up for sale in Southern California. The VIN was 242 0398, and research showed that vehicle was one of the first 700 vehicles shipped to the US under the 'BMW 2800' name.
I've restored several BMW's from the 80's, but I didn't really know much about BMW's from the 70's... I was intrigued to restore a car that's as old as I am... but then something happened... I kept stopping by the paddocks to stare at the Luigi CSL, I met a couple of the Essex brothers and looked at their track cars, I kept looking at engine-swapped E10's and E30's every time I went to Woodley Park... I discovered some of Larry Chen's material on Hagerty's... I started watching The Barn Find Hunter show.. and The Driver's Seat with Henry Catchpole.. I found the Son of Cobra 2002 videos... I rode shotgun in a friend's GT3RS on the track.. and one morning I woke up to what I wanted to do... I realized I didn't want to restore a car... I was hooked on something I'd never done before.. and since I was going to turn fifty-five in January.. it was go time.
I wanted to build a half-track / half-street hotrod.
By this point, I'd spent a lot of time scrounging around for Series I E3 parts, and I had quite a stash in the garage... but something didn't feel right.. something bothered me about cutting up one of the original 700 E3's shipped to the USA. It felt like bad karma.. so I started looking for a buyer and I started searching for a 'Bavaria' - preferably an automatic - because BMW sent nearly seven thousand of them to the USA.. and who cares if you cut up an automatic? It's a roller.. a shell.. I'm buying it for the VIN and the original blue plate, so I can do anything I want with the engine and not have to deal with the DMV.
For the last year, I've kept an automotive journal.. it's full of photos, ideas and sketches of a car... a car I want to build... it's not a car I want to restore. I grew up in a house where jazz was often on the stereo, and while I did my graduate work, I played bass in a jazz quartet and DJ'd on WREK 91.1FM.. Friday morning jazz shift.. 9AM to Noon. You might've heard my voice on Thursday nights between 11 and midnight while my bandmates hosted The Electric Boogaloo.. a show dedicated to funk. I discovered two of my favorite songs: Equinox by Coltrane, and II B.S. by Mingus. Mingus is wild, frenzied and passionate - Mingus leads you to places you didn't know exist. Coltrane is contemplative, and McCoy Tyner's piano on Equinox is transcendental, contemplative and supremely introspective... a true musical yin & yang. Coltrane and Mingus are always in rotation while I design; they encourage me to be daring and aware of all details.. all at the same time. Some wild stuff was finding it's way into the pages of that journal...
Thanksgiving 2025, I found myself in Boston, hanging out with my wife's family. We drove up to Maine and I was blown away by this lobster bisque at Billy's - I posted a photo of my bisque and beer on the site. I'm a surfer.. I'll sit in cold water all day for good waves, but the only time I like snow is when I go snowboarding.. and we weren't going to the mountains. My nephew was acting like a serious haole and I was ready to toss that kid out of the window.
That night, one of my internet searches landed a hit... a tan (sahara?), automatic Bavaria was for sale up in NorCal.. near Santa Cruz... there was this phrase in the ad, "002rescue is selling off all the extra stuff - that includes our spare Bavaria (we have two others)." Something in that phrase rang a bell.. so I ran another search.. and an image showed up.. and whoa! I know this guy. I was handing out beers at Woodley Park back in November and I ended up chatting with this dude and his dad. Yeah.. The Bavaria Rescue Project... Friis Brothers Racing. So I called a guy I met on this site, who gave me another cool dude's number in NorCal.. and that landed a phone number for the seller. The network of friends and contacts I'd made here on e9coupe.com was working some serious mojo...
The next morning, the family is in Logan airport and it's a friggin' blizzard. Thank the universe my wife has Admiral's club, because our departure just kept sliding later and later.. and that evening they had a mighty tasty pot of tomato bisque soup.. I dropped a text to the seller.. and ten minutes later we're talking on the phone.. and now I want those delays 'cause the conversation is hilarious and we're starting to hammer out the details of a deal. My wife kept eyeing me with this look... WTF is he up to?!?
The phone call ended and I felt something new.. something different. I felt like I was going with the universe instead of trying to swim against the current. There were tons of text messages, and phonecalls during basketball practice.. photos and crazy ideas.. and everything in between.
The deal ended up including a car, a spare engine, a Getrg 262 and a pedal box. A friend of a friend of a friend, who builds time attack cars, was headed down to SoCal to pickup the block for a new engine. He generously agreed to transport everything (I covered transport fees) from NorCal to SoCal, and to bring some of my parts back to NorCal (they're part of the deal). The car got loaded on January 29th, and arrived today at 11AM. One minor snag: I had to help the shop owner assemble his engine crane to hoist the motor; very unprofessional (sorry Marko).
Here's the story in pictures. The first four photos are from the original ad. The next four photos are the journey from NorCal to SoCal. The last eight photos are taken in the car's new home.
If you've read this far, you're probably thinking what's the plan dude?
Phase 1 of the plan: Swap the engine & transmission, re-do the brakes, and all necessary stuff to make it drivable by November.. so I can drive it to Woodley Park and hand out another round of free beers.. because that's how this adventure started... if I get lucky, this is going to be my ride to Laguna Seca Historics in August.
Back in 2023, I was searching for an E3 to work on.. and while I was at Laguna Seca, a vehicle popped up for sale in Southern California. The VIN was 242 0398, and research showed that vehicle was one of the first 700 vehicles shipped to the US under the 'BMW 2800' name.
I've restored several BMW's from the 80's, but I didn't really know much about BMW's from the 70's... I was intrigued to restore a car that's as old as I am... but then something happened... I kept stopping by the paddocks to stare at the Luigi CSL, I met a couple of the Essex brothers and looked at their track cars, I kept looking at engine-swapped E10's and E30's every time I went to Woodley Park... I discovered some of Larry Chen's material on Hagerty's... I started watching The Barn Find Hunter show.. and The Driver's Seat with Henry Catchpole.. I found the Son of Cobra 2002 videos... I rode shotgun in a friend's GT3RS on the track.. and one morning I woke up to what I wanted to do... I realized I didn't want to restore a car... I was hooked on something I'd never done before.. and since I was going to turn fifty-five in January.. it was go time.
I wanted to build a half-track / half-street hotrod.
By this point, I'd spent a lot of time scrounging around for Series I E3 parts, and I had quite a stash in the garage... but something didn't feel right.. something bothered me about cutting up one of the original 700 E3's shipped to the USA. It felt like bad karma.. so I started looking for a buyer and I started searching for a 'Bavaria' - preferably an automatic - because BMW sent nearly seven thousand of them to the USA.. and who cares if you cut up an automatic? It's a roller.. a shell.. I'm buying it for the VIN and the original blue plate, so I can do anything I want with the engine and not have to deal with the DMV.
For the last year, I've kept an automotive journal.. it's full of photos, ideas and sketches of a car... a car I want to build... it's not a car I want to restore. I grew up in a house where jazz was often on the stereo, and while I did my graduate work, I played bass in a jazz quartet and DJ'd on WREK 91.1FM.. Friday morning jazz shift.. 9AM to Noon. You might've heard my voice on Thursday nights between 11 and midnight while my bandmates hosted The Electric Boogaloo.. a show dedicated to funk. I discovered two of my favorite songs: Equinox by Coltrane, and II B.S. by Mingus. Mingus is wild, frenzied and passionate - Mingus leads you to places you didn't know exist. Coltrane is contemplative, and McCoy Tyner's piano on Equinox is transcendental, contemplative and supremely introspective... a true musical yin & yang. Coltrane and Mingus are always in rotation while I design; they encourage me to be daring and aware of all details.. all at the same time. Some wild stuff was finding it's way into the pages of that journal...
Thanksgiving 2025, I found myself in Boston, hanging out with my wife's family. We drove up to Maine and I was blown away by this lobster bisque at Billy's - I posted a photo of my bisque and beer on the site. I'm a surfer.. I'll sit in cold water all day for good waves, but the only time I like snow is when I go snowboarding.. and we weren't going to the mountains. My nephew was acting like a serious haole and I was ready to toss that kid out of the window.
That night, one of my internet searches landed a hit... a tan (sahara?), automatic Bavaria was for sale up in NorCal.. near Santa Cruz... there was this phrase in the ad, "002rescue is selling off all the extra stuff - that includes our spare Bavaria (we have two others)." Something in that phrase rang a bell.. so I ran another search.. and an image showed up.. and whoa! I know this guy. I was handing out beers at Woodley Park back in November and I ended up chatting with this dude and his dad. Yeah.. The Bavaria Rescue Project... Friis Brothers Racing. So I called a guy I met on this site, who gave me another cool dude's number in NorCal.. and that landed a phone number for the seller. The network of friends and contacts I'd made here on e9coupe.com was working some serious mojo...
The next morning, the family is in Logan airport and it's a friggin' blizzard. Thank the universe my wife has Admiral's club, because our departure just kept sliding later and later.. and that evening they had a mighty tasty pot of tomato bisque soup.. I dropped a text to the seller.. and ten minutes later we're talking on the phone.. and now I want those delays 'cause the conversation is hilarious and we're starting to hammer out the details of a deal. My wife kept eyeing me with this look... WTF is he up to?!?
The phone call ended and I felt something new.. something different. I felt like I was going with the universe instead of trying to swim against the current. There were tons of text messages, and phonecalls during basketball practice.. photos and crazy ideas.. and everything in between.
The deal ended up including a car, a spare engine, a Getrg 262 and a pedal box. A friend of a friend of a friend, who builds time attack cars, was headed down to SoCal to pickup the block for a new engine. He generously agreed to transport everything (I covered transport fees) from NorCal to SoCal, and to bring some of my parts back to NorCal (they're part of the deal). The car got loaded on January 29th, and arrived today at 11AM. One minor snag: I had to help the shop owner assemble his engine crane to hoist the motor; very unprofessional (sorry Marko).
Here's the story in pictures. The first four photos are from the original ad. The next four photos are the journey from NorCal to SoCal. The last eight photos are taken in the car's new home.
If you've read this far, you're probably thinking what's the plan dude?
Phase 1 of the plan: Swap the engine & transmission, re-do the brakes, and all necessary stuff to make it drivable by November.. so I can drive it to Woodley Park and hand out another round of free beers.. because that's how this adventure started... if I get lucky, this is going to be my ride to Laguna Seca Historics in August.
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