A Measure of the Years
Hello! Jack Kramer, bimmerphile by trade, tifioso by passion and proprietor of J&J Motorsport, offered me a guest slot on his blog. Ergo, below.
Jack and I go way back, certainly in terms of car-years. And is there a better measure? Well, there are children-years, of course. And president-years. Oh, and wedding anniversary-years. (Which I almost forgot. Typical.)
On with my tale. In our part of Iowa, traffic is comprised mostly of two parts: older folks in Buick sedans and the bland crossovers that they often fail to see. (Be safe out there, people. Anticipate.) Point being, there isn't much in the way of interesting European cars in our local mix. Despite that (or maybe because of it) J&J Motorsport became, over the years, the Eastern Iowa hotspot for an ever-growing crowd of Euro-car enthusiasts.
I contributed my share of cars to this mix and Jack kept each of them on the road in a most satisfactory manner. They are as follows:
• 1984 Volvo 240 wagon – anvil reliability, just not as rustproof
• 1988 Audi 5000 – quattro, baby. Its door handles kept breaking off and by the inevitable transmission failure and resulting retirement, it required 4 separate keys.
• 1995 BMW M3 coupe – Bought it on Facebook, had it transported all the way from California. A Cosmoschwartz (black with cosmic dust flakes) charmer that never let me down.
• 1997 Audi ur S6 in Europa Blau (pictured above). It was federalized and imported from Canada via a gauge cluster swap. Bought it at 90,0000 miles, sold it at 260,000. My trusty companion for many, long winter trips.
• 1999 BMW M3 coupe – Yes, I double-dipped the E36. Nice to get back into a more sprightly car. Put nearly 200,000 miles on it and sold it to a certain auto repair shop owner named Jack.
• 2001 BMW 540i – The Volvo wagon was my first Dad car. This E39 has been retired from similar duty, but it still make sense as a daily driver. 180,000 miles now.
(I should also note my two sons' several Japanese cars that Jack graciously allowed past his overhead doors through the years.) Tip of the hat, Jack.
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