September - 2017

The current stable

September 23, 2017 The Alpina has a good friend in the garage with it, a Fjord 1974 2002tii. It's my third tii, and my 8th '02 (Agave 68 1600, badly repainted silver 69 2002, Amazon 74 2002, Pastel 76 2002, Malaga 72 tii, Sahara 73 tii, Inka 73 touring, and the Fjord 74 tii). The daily driver is -- sacrilege! -- a Porsche Cayman S. My first new car, ever (my wife bought a new 2008 328it six-speed, our first new car, and I drove that daily when she got a 318ti). It's the per

The Back Story (a couple of A4s)

September 15, 2017 As a bona fide 2002 nut, I spent too much time dreaming of Alpina-modified 02s, the best being the 2002tii version known as an Alpina A4. In addition to the usual suspension and braking upgrades, Alpina was known for their tweaked motors. The standard 2002 had about 100hp, the tii had 130hp, and the Alpina A4 and A4S had 165-180hp, achieved through a four-throttle injection system, a tweaked kugelfischer pump, a 300* motorsport cam, and high compression p

Sleuthing the car (how I found my Alpina)

September 1, 2017 I’m a serial renovator – you know the type, I buy run-down houses, live in it for a bit, fixing up a house I couldn't otherwise afford. And after about five or 10 years, I sell the house and move on to the next project. What does it have to do with this Alpina? Well, I’m the same with cars. I buy old BMWs, and do a resto-mod, mostly on 2002tiis. I modify them, often with vintage Alpina parts that I had squirreled away over the years. Most recently I b