. ...,. Buyin~ Cell,••t~r b.,,...

\

The ULTIMATE LEASE on the

THE ULTIMATE TANNING MACHINE.

$398,month The ULTIMATE LEASt The BMW 325i convertible , $398 00 per month plus tax , $4,480.94 delivers 72 months closed end lease. Cap costs $33,000, residual $14,415.86 . Customer responsible fo r 1st month payment, refundable security deposit , and license/registration .

An incredible deal on an incredible car. The only convertible with the heart and soul of an "i series" BMW. From the only BMW dealer offering the tradition, service, and detail of a Phil Smart Company:

&~!~~~~ 714 East Pike 328-8787

Cover: BM W'.s tii for the eighties. I wonder how collectib le this MJ will be in 20 years?

Zi.indfolge Staff Editor-in-Chief Susan Herrero Susan Howard

Managing Editor Denny Organ

Creative Editor Jim Peacock

Art Director William Linder

Contributing Editors Thomas B. Nast Ron Newell Steve Worthington David Lightfoot Dan Patzer

Advertising Manager Ed Tanaka

Illustrator Kirk MacGregor

Circulation Linda Mierz

Photographers Greg Mierz Thomas Cox Paul Touby

Zii11dfulxe is publi shed monthly (except November) by the BMW ACA Puge t Sound Region. Office Of Publication: 29 13 27th W .. Seattle . WA 98199. Publication number US PS 7 15250. Subscriptions $10 a nnually (available o nly as part of $25 m.em bers hip fee .) Seco nd C lass postage paid at Seattle. WA. Postmaster: send address changes to Zii11dfol11e: POB 1259. Bellevue. WA 98009

This magazine is the monthly publication of the BMWACA. Puget Sound Region. and remains its property . All information furni shed herein is provided by the me mbership for members only. Ideas. suggestions and opinions. technical or otherwi se . are those of the authors. without authentication by o r li abi lity to the editors or the Club. Unless specifically stated otherw ise. the Club endorses no person. product. service o r business. Modifications within the warranty period may void the warranty.

In halt Activities/ Calendar

Party Time! 1988 Banquet

Stal IS stans

Board Of Directors

Long Live The 2002

David E. Davis On The 2002

Denise McCluggage Column

Classified Marketplace

Club Discounts

Parting Shot

Vol. 18, No. 8 November 1988

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Howtobuy a cellular phone Cellular phones have graduated from toys to tools. Once seen only in fancy foreign cars, cellular technology is now used by truck drivers , construction workers , the State Patrol and working mothers.

Uses vary from improving sales to increasing the level of safety for family members. And with the technology advancing so rapidly , cellular phones are no longer limited to merely voice transmission. They are now attached to other high-tech machinery such as fax machines and electrocardiograms to send timely and lifesaving data.

But there's a lot to consider before buying a cellular phone or subscribing to a cellular service.

Evaluate your schedule and needs for a mobile phone.

Where and when will you most likely be using the equipment? This will help you decide which form of mobile telephone can provide the most efficient and convenient service.

There are four types of mobile phones: car phones, battery-powered briefcase phones, transportables (which can be used in or out of your car) and portable (hand-held) phones .

Leasing or renting a cellular phone may best meet your immediate com­munication or buying needs.

Although leases require a contract, cellular users can extend payments over a period of years, if necessary.

Choose your service provider care­fully.

While shopping, ask your salesper­son the following questions to insure that you choose the cellular provider that can meet your needs:

What kind of customer care is offered? A group of trained customer care representatives offering free 24-hour service is available with some non-wire carriers. With this service, you can always have your questions or concerns addressed immediately.

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Calendar November 19 Annual Banquet at Salty's Alki. Our biggest event of the

year, and a lot of fun! Dinner, silent auction, Autoweek'~ Denise McCluggage, plus the chance to renew old acq.uam­tances and make new ones. See inside for further details.

December l Board meeting at the home of Sharon Silverstone, 347 NE 52nd St., Seattle. All members welcome.

What follow-up services are availa­ble? Make sure your cellular service provider has an established and well­run service center that can repair your phone or antenna.

How will I be kept informed of updated services and advancements? Because the cellular industry is pro­gressing so quickly, services and phones continue to improve.

Where can I use my phone and how strong is the signal in those areas? What are plans for expansion of the coverage area and when will they occur? Ask to see a coverage map, and about the areas where reception is poor.

Can I use the phone in other areas of the United States? Where will I be charged for long-distance?

Access to other cities will depend on the areas your non-wire service pro­vider is allowed to operate. Make sure you understand the differences in air­time rates that exist in other cities.

Are there any special service pro­grams offered to customers? Compli­mentary hotlines for stock updates, traffic reports , entertainment tickets, as well as discounts on future phone purchases are some of the added-value packages that may differentiate a ser­vice provider.

What customized system features are offered? Conference calling, call forwarding, detailed billing, automatic roaming or voicemail are only a few to ask about.

What are the air-time costs? And how does usage affect your bill? Educate yourself.

Make sure you receive detailed in­structions from your salesperson on how to use the phone you purchase. Ask for an operating manual and information outlining all the services provided by your non-wire telephone company. Most service providers give new customers an introductory packet, which includes such items as a roaming guide, safety tips and a brochure on customer services.

Beware of stolen phones. Every phone is coded with an elec­

tronic identification number that allows it to be tracked by computer.

Try for a price break. Although a good price on a phone

cannot ensure quality service, always ask about price reductions available for special purchases such as multiple phone orders.

Puget Sound Business Journal How-To Book

Today's German cars have some of the world's most advanced electronics under the hood. Electronics created by Bosch.

Bosch designed and produced your car's electronic ignition, fuel injection, anti­lock braking systems and other electronic components. So it makes good sense to bring your BMW service to a service center trained and equipped by Bosch.

Luckily, it's not hard to decide on where to go. There's only one authorized Bosch service center in Seattle- Hermann's German Auto Service.

And at Hermann's, we not only know Bosch, we also know Bayerische Motoren Werke. So call Hermann. When it comes to fine cars, we speak fluent German.

HERMANNS GERMAN AUTO SERVICE

6800 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle 522-7766

Bosch Authorized Service

Thorough, caring service · Downtown shuttle· 12 month unlimited mileage warranty

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Party Time! This year's banquet on November

19th promises once again to be a high­light of the Club 's calendar. We have a fa bulous lineup this year: another silent aucti on, the wonderful Denise Mc­Cluggage as guest speaker, and a great location at Salty's Alki.

Speaking of Salty's, if you haven't been to their Alki location, you're in for quite a treat. Located right on the water, the restaurant offers one of the bes t panoramic views of the Seattle skyline available from any restaurant in the city. They have excellent ban­quet facil ities for up to 200 people . For our event , we have se lected the Skyline Ball room on the restaurant's lower level. There should be plenty of room to mingle, and if by chance the weather cooperates, you 'll be able to walk onto a veranda which ex tends over the water and faces the city skyline. Spec­tacular!

But there is more to Salty's than the view. The food is an attraction, as evi­denced by the difficulty of getting prime time weekend reservations. We will have a choice of two entrees, hali­but or New York steak. The halibut fillet has hazelnuts served with a sauce of white wine, cream and lemon. The steak is select Nebraska beef, corn fed and locker-aged . Both entrees come with a seasonal salad with vinaigrette dressing, new red potatoes, rolls and butter, and tea or coffee. Cost for either is $25 and by the end of the evening you'll feel it was money well spent! Be sure to come early and take advantage of the no-host bar begin­ning at 6 PM.

The speaker for our banquet is well­known automotive journalist and racer Denise McCluggage. She is an accom­plished storyteller, and she will be tell­ing us about a lot of her experiences both as a racer and writer. See David Lightfoot 's profile of Denise elsewhere in this Zundfolge. Also included is one of her recent columns, the subject of which is guaranteed to interest even

those of a non-automotive bent. Finally, we once again have a silent

auction. This has been one of the high­lights of the banquet the last couple of years, and this year's should be a good one as well. Plans call for the auction to begin at around 6 PM (doors open) . The silent auctions will end at various times, (approximately 6:45 , 7:00 & 7: 15). Dinner will be served at about 7:30.

To get to Salty's either take the West Seattle Freeway from Highway 99, or take 1-5 North (exit 163) or South (exit

163A). Follow the exit to West Seattle Freeway, take Harbor Ave. exit (n ot Harbor Island exit! ). At the end of the exit , take a right and go one mile. Sal­ty's is on your right.

All you need to do to get in on this is send in the registration form (or oth­erwise indicate your entree choice(s)) along with your check so that it is received at the Club P.O. Box by November 17th. If you have any ques­tions call Tom Williams (283-1056) or David or Lucetta Lightfoot (282-2641 ). See you on the 19th!

Banquet Registration Form

November 19 at Salty's Alki

Name (sl

Address

Number of Entrees @ $25 _ _ Halibut __ Steak Please list name of each person attending. Make check payable to BMWACA and send to the club so it is received by Nov. 17. BMWACA, P .O. Box 1259, Bellevue, WA 98009

Banquet Speaker: Denise McCluggage

Well, folks, we've done it again. Another outstanding banquet speaker. Two years ago we had racer David Hobbs. Last year it was automobile columnist Satch Carlson. This year we've got someone who's done both: raced with the best of them and wrote about it too. Our guest will be Denise McC!uggage.

Denise raced extensively in that golden age of sports cars, the 1950s. She now travels and is a freelance wri­ter for a number of publications. When not on the road she calls Santa Fe, New Mexico home. She is a master storyteller. This will be our first female banquet speaker, and a vibrant , active woman she is.

Elsewhere in this issue are details about the banquet. But our popular silent auction, the Salty's on Alki loca­tion and Denise McCluggage as speaker are a winning combo. Plan to attend.

Here's a short bio on Denise which she furnished to the club: BIO: Denise McCluggage

Journalist, author, competitor

"Miss McCluggage is indisputably the best woman driver in the U.S. and one of the six best in the world."

- Ken W. Purdy Sept. 1967 PARADE

Like the guy surprised to discover he had been speaking prose all his life, Denise McCluggage is surprised to find she has been a pioneer. She just thought she was doing things she liked to do - among them, drive fast cars and write about those who drove even faster cars. (Or drove cars even faster.)

Nonetheless, when women sports­writers were rare she was on the staff of the New York Herald Tribune cover­ing primarily skiing and motor racing. She was known for doing what she wrote about, whether it was skiing, racing or jumping out of airplanes (always with a parachute.)

After leaving the Herald Tribune, she was at one time or another a member of the following racing or ral­lying teams in the US or abroad: North American Racing Team, Bill Harrah's Racing Team, Rover Motor Co., Brit­ish Motor Corp., Ford of England, Ford America , General Motors, L'Equipe Renault, Team Volvo, Camo­radi and the Briggs Cunningham rac­ing team.

Competition cars have included: Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Volvo , Austin, Rover, Triumph, Lotus, Fiat, Ford, Renault, Jaguar, OSCA, Elva, De Tomaso , Alfa Romeo and Corvair.

Her co-competitors at one time or another included the like of: Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, the Rodriguez brothers, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner.

Chief successes: I st Gran Turismo, Sebring 1961 (Ferrari); Co pa de Damas, Grand Prix of Venezuela (Porsche); !st in class Monte Carlo Rall ye (Ford); Coupe de Dames Trans­Canada Rallye (Corvair); Coupe des Dames American International Rally (Triumph) . And a number of class and overall victories at Nassau, Bridg­hampton, Daytona Beach, Elkhart Lake, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and the Nurburgring.

She was involved at the inception of Competition Press (now Auto Week) and is now a columnist and senior edi­tor. She writes about cars regularly for Glamour Magazine, has a syndicated newspaper column called Drive, She Said, and is automotive editor of Snow Country. In 1985 she became the first woman to receive the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism. She is the author of The Centered Skier (Bantam) and will soon publish an update of her 1985 book for women drivers.

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Volvo - A Car For Lawyers

Attentive readers will recall that a certain Volvo wagon took up smoking on a trip to Oregon last June. I as­cribed this to the Jack of a fuse in the headlight circuit together with chaffed wires behind the headlight bucket, where Volvo does, in fact, pass a pair of unprotected wires behind a razor­sharp flange.

I wrote to Volvo about this. About six weeks later a reply came, stating that they were unable to get hold of me and if I wished to pursue the matter further I should call a 1-800 number. I called, not because I thought Volvo would help (I had given up on them by this point), but in order to learn why they could not get hold of me. They said they did not have my telephone number. I pointed out that it was on the top of the Jetter I send, and in the phone book, too. I did not point out the obvious, that it was right next to my address on the letterhead from which they wrote me . Curious folks, these Volvo purveyors.

After another 3+ weeks of playing telephone tag, (by which time I had repaired the damage) an appointment was set up for the end of September for them to look at the car. Which they did . What follows their explanation for why my Volvo cooks.

The high / low headlight has two fil­aments. One side of the pair is joined and is served by a common wire , and the other sides are separate, so the high / low beams can be turned on and off independently. Every manufacturer in Europe (so far as I know) except Volvo uses the common lead as ground, and feeds B+ into the separate leads to turn on the beams. Volvo does just the opposite. It feeds B+ into the common lead and grounds the separate leads to complete the headlight circuits.

None of this mattered until I in­stalled Cibie lights. The reflector of the Cibie, it turns out, is mechanically connected to the common lead (the base) of its H-4 lamp, and is mechani-

talls by Thomas B. Nast

made of, and Volvo seems hellbent on enriching my profession.

Click 'N Clack

cally connected to the three locating tangs on the rim of the headlight. The tangs locate the headlight within the metal bucket, which is bolted to the car body. Thus, on a car which feeds B+ into the common lead, the current can travel through the reflector and tang straight into the chassis, causing a dead short. In fact this had happened (again) since I replaced wires on the Volvo in question. Volvo reported that the bucket wires had again burned out, though the relay, switch and harness wires I had replaced had survived .

Volvo said they had seen this happen a number of times. Which causes me to wonder, (1) why do they wire it this way, (2) why is there no warning in the owner's manual or, more appropri­ately, in the headlight bucket itself, and (3) why not use a plastic headlight bucket? I did ask why the circuit was not fused, since even without warnings this would protect the consumer, not to mention the car. Volvo's answer? "We've never fused that circuit." Their rep could not say why not, just that they never did .

As a consumer I am grateful to Volvo for solving this riddle before disaster recurred . As an attorney, I am grateful that Volvo does not warn con­sumers of known problems, nor take the most basic precaution to avert their consequences. For this is the stuff that successful product liability suits are

In case you haven't found it on your own, the two most retrograde "car guys" in the country may be found from 10:00 am to 11:00 am Saturday mornings on KPLU, 88.5 FM. Replete with an accent only the Red Sox could love, Tom and Ray Malliozzi (pho­netic spelling) answer questions, pro­pound puzzlers, and engage in sophic discourse. That discourse includes such topics as the religion of E. Ron Tappet, espousal of a 35 mph speed limit, an intense dislike of the CRX Si (too small , to fast) , of BMW's, of GM pro­ducts, of anything which burn diesel oil , etc. The pair are true automotive neanderthals.

The show would be unbearable except that these clowns really are funny and know a Jot about cars. So I listen every week, sprinkling salt liber­ally on the radio all the while.

[KPFK in Los Angeles has a really good car show, which we can't get up here . The last time I heard it an extremely knowledgeable engineering type from Jaguar spent an hour or so discussing the hows and whys of new systems in the XJ-6. (I was passed by a new XJ-6 this week, with a custom license plate: MEOWW.) There was much greater depth than you get in the magazines, so maybe such a show is unsuitable for a mass market.]

Tune in these meatballs on Saturday morning and see if it isn't the next best thing to Satch Carlson's column. Department of Autoweek Department

Even as nordic days grow shorter and darker, the October 3rd issue of Autoweek enlightens us on Sweden's latest contribution to the advancement of the automobile: "Also for 1989, Saab is reintroducing the 900 Turbo four-door, last seen here in 1985. It shares all the features of the 900 Turbo four-door, especially the engine which

produces 160 hp - except in 165 hp, SPG trim." I am told by usually­reliable sources that the 900 Turbo two-door shares all the features of the 900 Turbo two-door as well, but please don't tell Autoweek.

It's Only A Wrapper It has been a fairly well preserved

secret, up unil now, that my telephone is listed under the name "Eduard Hanslick." You see, I can't justify pay­ing the telephone company every month not to list my name in the direc­tory, and Hanslick is a character we would do well to remember. You don't remember him? He was a music critic in Vienna in the 19th Century, perhaps the most respected critic in a town which took its music seriously. And, in yr hmbl & obd svt's opinion, time has shown that his skills at bombast well exceeded his understanding of music. A gentleman worth remembering.

(An additional benefit of such a list­ing is weeding out the telephone solici­tors the answering machine doesn't catch. If the call is for Mr. or Mr. Hanslick, the response is, "What are you selling." But I'm not trying to start a movement here.)

What brings all this to mind is a

postcard I received in September. It is the third such solicitation I have received. It is for the book "Hanslicks Across America'', which "represents our informative edition of knowledge about the location of Hanslick Fami­lies in America." After describing the rarity of the name and how few of these books will be printed, Mary Whitney shovels out the following: "Each book is serially numbered and accompanied by a letter authenticating the collection of data for this one and only edition. P.S . You are already in this book."

So, thirty bucks get me a compila­tion of names listed in various tele­phone directories, the only edition of a book I have been offered at least twice already. No, thanks.

Maybe I am making too much out of this, but it seems that this is but one more example of selling dreams and delivering feces. This one is obvious; if they think I'm a real Hanslick, ob­viously their "knowledge" ain't worth paying for. But increasingly, more of America seems to be built on the same quicksand . From politics to products, it seems that once the surface is scratched we find rust underneath. Insurance companies (any of 'em) pur­port to settle claims quickly, but drag their customers through years of costly

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litigation; manufacturers (like Phone Mate) build defective products they won't fix; others (like Chrysler) sell used cars as new, and sell proven lem­ons (cars they had to take back) as good used cars; retailers (like Embee of Atlanta, which "sells" used Mercedes parts) misrepresent what they sell, and refuse refunds when called on it; the government promises us "safe" reac­tors, which are revealed to leak tons of radioactive debris; or sells us "deregu­lation'', which triples telephone rates and cuts airline safety threefold as well. I could go on, but I was told to leave some room for other articles.

America has always been a land which attracts hucksters, and vener­ates the good ones (like P.T. Barnum). Maybe there isn't any increase in dream merchandising, it 's always been like this - maybe I'm just more sensi­tive to it this month. Maybe this is the purgatory to which a consumer society is inevitably doomed. But from one Hanslick to another, it looks bad and me thinks it's getting worse .

Evans Industrial Park

1508-128th Pl. N.E. Bellevue, WA 98005

453-2898

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Bits and Pieces BMW is not abandoning the under

$30K market , at least not yet. For 1989, BMWNA will offer four variants of the 325i for less than $30K. Tom McGurn, BMWNA General Manager of corporate communications , says that "major pricing moves are behind us", adding that in 1989 the company expects one-third of its sales in the under $30K segment, one-third in the $30K-40K range , and one-third in the $40K + range. The models listing for less than $30K are: 325i 2-door, $24,650; 325i 4-door, $25,450; 325is, $28,950; 325ix, $29,950. BMW is also taking a more aggressive approach to its marketing and advertising in this market niche, as witness its recent ad campaign for these cars.

Some developments concerning the 55 speed limit. Congress has recently suspended sanctions against those states which weren 't meeting com­pliance levels . States vio lating the law were subject to losing up to 10% of certain categories of federal trust fund money . Legislation to allow 65mph was passed without any penalty provi-

sion . A new group calling itself GUARD (Group United Against Radar Detectors) has launched a drive to ban radar detectors nationwide. They have received assurances of insu­rance industry support.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has recently concluded that "there is very little relationship be­tween enforcement and compliance and highway safety performance ... states with relatively good compliance records ... do not always have the best safety records in terms of accident fatalities, and states that aggressively ticketed speeders do not necessarily motivate motorists to comply with the 55-mph speed limit." The GAO recommended that the federal Dept. of Transportation consider a "weighted" approach toward compliance, with such factors as high-speed driving, vio-

BMWACA Puget Sound Region

Board of Directors 1988 President Tom Williams

P.O. Box 99428 Seattle, WA 98199 hm 283-1056

Vice Sharon Silverstone President 347 N.E. 52nd St.

Seattle , WA 98105 hm 632-6567

Treasurer George Shaw 2001 Western Ave. Suite 440 Seattle, WA 98121 wk 441-4039

Track Lucetta & David Events Lightfoot

2641 39th W. Seattle , WA 98199 hm 282-2641

Technical Ron Newell 2111 140th Ave. N.E. Bellevue, WA 98005 wk 747-6044 (8-5 only)

Ziindjolge Denny Organ Editor 2913 27th Ave. W.

Seatt le, WA 98 l 99 hm 285-1402

Ziindfolge Ed Tanaka Advertising 756 N. 72nd St. #203

Seattle, WA 98103 hm 783-8057

lations on roads with poor safety records, and the intensity of a state's enforcement effort. These schemes have been rejected by DOT before.

Motor Trend, Autoweek

Past Bill Linder President 14618 21st Ave. S.W.

Seattle, WA 98188 hm 246-5292

Secretary Michael & Mary Lee Helton

4700 Somerset Ave. S.E. Bellevue, WA 98006 hm 643-4729

Membership Keith Elliott & Erin Sullivan 1637 E. 32nd St. Tacoma, WA 98404 hm 272-5832

Roster Tom O'Dell Manager 2125 Squak Mt. Lp . S.W.

Issaquah, WA 98027 hm 392-8274

Autocrossing Paul Touby 9613 S. 240th St. Kent, WA 98031 hm 854-1986

Activities David Lightfoot 2641 39th Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98199 hm 282-2641

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We have seven years' experience making suspension and turbo systems. Thousands of hours of research and development have gone into these systems with many high

tech features not found in our competitors' products. Here is what the editor of the

BMWCCA ROUNDEL had to say about one of our cars. "The painstaking atten­tion to detail was evident everywhere you looked ... rocket sled performance."

When you get serious about performance, give us a call.

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Some products not legal for sale or use in California on pollution controlled vehicles.

Bimmer Nervosa

Medical science has recently disco­vered a serious psychosis which is named 'Automobilia Nervosa'. It is identifiable, in its early stages, by cer­tain symptoms such as increased heart rate in the presence of sports cars, sweating palms when coming into co n­tact with MOMO steering wheels , and so on .. .

As the disease advances, other bi­zarre behav ior patterns become evi­dent. Yo u ve ry likely have the disease if you: - Armora ll your spare tire; - Inspect the image of your freshly-washed car in plate glass windows; - D ust the dashboard while waiting at traffic lights; - Wax the underside of your hood ; - T une the engine weekly; - Keep two or t hree auto accessory catalogs by yo ur bedside in case inspi­ration should st ri ke while you are asleep; - Close the door for passengers so they won't slam it (or worse yet, get fingerprints on the window); - Take t he long way home from work because the curves are better on that road ; - 'Fo rget' to turn off your Bamberg deck so the Bose quads will energize yo ur passengers half-way through the sunroof when you hit the ignition switch; - Change brake pads for the fun of it; - Struggle to avoid looking superior when the Camaro in front of you runs into the berm in a vain effort to stay ahead of you on a twisting road; - Park so far out in the shopping center parking lot that you have to take the shu ttle bus to get back to your car; - Armorall the plastic valve stem caps on your tires ; - Ro ll the sunroof back on the first warm day in February, even though you have the heater on foil blast, just to stay lukewarm;

- Take you wife 's car to the grocery store if it looks like rain; - Put on the most convincing 'can 't everybody corner like this?' expression when zooming up behind other cars on freeway ramps; and, - Feel physically ill when your car is not running right , or is down for repairs (this symptom is especially dan­gerous, as it indicates the final stages of the disease !).

Although there is no known cure for the disease , their are some treatments which have provided temporary relief; buy a Chevrolet , cancel all your car magazine subscriptions, and read only Co nsumer Repo rts, or renew your subscription to the BMW Car Club

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BMW Wins One Lap

T he team of Jim Atwell, Scott John­son, and David Killian drove an M5 to top honors in the fifth-annual One Lap of American Rally.

The One Lap is the brainchild of Brock Yates, long time automotive journa list. T he seeds were planted many years ago in the Cannonball Baker run. The subject of severa l movies , this contest was a no-h olds­barred race from New York to L.A . The "official" recordholder for the Cannonball is Dan Gurney, who set the mark with a Ferrari. T he Can non­ball was the nemesis of law-enforce­ment agencies across the country .

The One Lap, on the other hand, is ru n as a Time-Speed-D istance Rally, with the average speeds kept below posted limits. To satisfy contestants' urges to "let it all hang out", several higher-speed contests are run at race­tracks and closed courses during the co urse of the rally .

The winning M5 , driven by Atwell and Johnson, and navigated by Kil­lian, wo n out over fifty-seven other competitors. They were eighth at the midpoint of the 8,000 mile, eight-day event.

In addit ion to the 8,000 miles cov­ered in the rally, the MS was driven from Montvale , NJ to Virginia Beach, Virginia for preparation. It was then driven to Detroit for the start of the rally, and returned to Virginia Beach afterwards. During this interval, it managed to average 21. 1 miles per gal­lon and did not require the addition of any oil. According to Atwell, "T he only time we lifted the hood was for people to admire the engine ."

BMW ACA, Los Angeles

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Long Live The 2002 by David Lightfoot

It's been 20 years since the introduc­tion of the 2002. Oh, I'm not about to go on and on about how the 2002 was the last good car BMW ever built , and the '73 was the last good 2002. On the contrary, I think the newer cars are vastly better, albeit vastly more ex­pensive.

But the 2002 was a break-through car, both for BMW and the automo­bile industry. It was the highest volume car for BMW, by far, up to that point. It defined the term sports sedan. But most importantly, it did almost every­thing well. It outhandled the sports cars while having a real back seat and trunk. It was a cute little, upright box

that went like stink. A sleeper that endeared itself to most everyone who gave it a test drive. The 2002 was the success story that allowed BMW to go from strength to strength in the ensu­ing years. The 2002 was a landmark.

Now, with the perspective of 20 years, we look back. The 2002 is still loved. It is enjoying a resurgence in racing in Improved Touring. This issue of Zundf olge begins a retrospective on the 2002. We have reprinted the Car & Driver article by David E. Davis that started it all in this country. Originally published in 1968. (I think), this watershed piece really woke up Ameri­can enthusiasts.

The next issue will feature a history of the 2002 by Ken Gross which appeared in the beautiful publication, Automobile Quarterly. The third in­stallment will be a fine piece on the technical changes to the 2002 over the years. This originally appeared in the BMW CCA Roundel.

After whetting your appetite with history and technical data, the fourth and final installment will help you find a 2002 worthy of a place in your gar­age. Look forward to a reprint of Tom Nast's article on the various weak points amongst the years of 2002s. Think of it as Buying Used, Part V.

So look forward to a winter of '02 overload. The long term Bimmerphille and the most recent convert can find joy in the evergreen 2002.

Turn Your Hymnals to 2002 - David E. Davis, Jr. Blows His Mind On The Latest From BMW

As I sit here, fresh from the elegant embrace of BMW's new 2002, it occurs to me that something between nine and ten million Americans are going to make a terrible mistake this year. Like dutiful little robots they will march out of their identical split-level boxes and buy the wrong kind of car. Fools, fools! Terrible, terrible , I say. Why are you blowing your money on this year's too-new-to-be-true face-lift of the Con­tinental / Countess / Mara/ Sprite / Sprint Status Symbol / Sting Ray / Sex Substitute / Mainliner/ Belair / Newport / Overkill / Electra / Eldorado / Javelin / Toad / GTO / GT A/ GTB / GTS / GTX / Reality Blaster / Variant / Park Lane / Park Ward / Ward-Heeler/ XK-E/ Dino/ Dud car when you should be buying a BMW 2002, I ask?

Down at the club Piggy Tremalion and Bucko Penoyer and all their twit friends are buying shrieking little 2-seaters with rag tops and skinny wire wheels, unaware that somewhere, some­day, some guy in a BMW 2002 is going to blow them off so bad that they'll henceforth leave every stoplight in second gear and never drive on a wind­ing road again as long as they live.

In the suburbs, Biff Everykid and Kevin Acne and Marvin Sweatsock will press their fathers to buy H 0 Fire­birds with tachometers mounted out ne ar the horizon somew here and enough power to light the city of Seat­tle , totally indifferent to the fact that they could fit more friends into a BMW in greater comfo rt and stop bet­ter and go around corners better and get about 29 times better gas mileage.

Mr. and Mrs . America wil l paste a "Support Your Local Police" sticker on the back bumper of their new T­Bird and run Old Glory up the radio antenna and never know that for about 2,500 bucks less they could have gotten a car with more leg room, more head room, more luggage space , good

brakes, decent tires , independent rear suspension, a glove box finished like the inside of an expensive overcoat and an ashtray that slides out like it was on the end of a butler's arm - not to mention a lot of other good stuff they didn't even know they could get on an autom obile, like doors that fit and seats that don't make you tired when you sit in them.

So far as I'm concerned, to hell with all of 'em. If they're content to remain in the automotive dark, Jet them. I know about the BMW 2002, and I sus­pect enthusiasts will buy as many as those pink-cheeked Bavarians in their leather pants and mountain-climbing shoes would like to build and ship over here. Something between nine and ten million squares will miss out on this

neat little 2-door sedan with all the cojones and brio and elan of cars twice its size and four times its price, but some ten thousand keen types will buy them in 1968, so the majority loses for once.

The 2002 is BMW's way of coping with the smog problem. They couldn't import their little l 600Ti, because their smog device won't work on its multi­carbureted engine. So they stuffed in the smooth quiet 2-liter (single car­buretor) engine from the large 2000 sedan and - SHAZAM - instant winner!

To my way of thinking, the 2002 is one of modern civilization's all-time best ways to get somewhere sitting down. It grabs you. You sit in mag­nificently-adjustable seats with great,

'·

tall windows all around you. You are comfortable and you can see in every direction. You start it. Willing and un­lumpy is how it feels. No rough idle, no zappy noises to indicate that the task you propose might be anything more than child's play for all those 114 Bav­arian superhorses.

Depress the clutch. Easy. Like there was no spring. Snick. First gear. Remove weight of left foot from clutch. Place weight of right foot on accelerator. The minute it starts mov­ing, you know that Fangio and Moss and Tony Brooks and all those other big racing studs retired only because they feared that someday you'd have one of these, and when that day came, you'd be indomitable. They were right. You are indomitable.

First stoplight. I blow off aging Plymouth sedan and 6-cylinder Mus­tang. Not worthy of my steel. Too easy. Next time. Big old 6-banger Hea­ley and '65 GTO. GTO can't believe I'm serious, lets me get away before he opens all the holes and comes smoking past with pain and outrage all over his stricken countenance. Nearly hits rear­end of truck in panicky attempt to reaffirm virility. Austin-Healey a dif­ferent matter. Tries for all he's worth, but British engineering know-how and quality-craftsmanship not up to the job. I don't even shift fast from third to fourth, just to let him feel my utter contempt.

Nobody believes it , until I suck their headlights out. But nobody doubts it , once that nearly-silent, unobtrusive lit­tle car has disappeared down the road and around the next bend, still accel­erating without a sign of the brake lights. l learn not to tangle with the kids in their big hot Mothers with the 500 horsepower engines unless I can get them into a tight place demanding agility, brakes, and the raw courage that is build into the BMW driver's seat as a no-cost extra.

In its unique ability to blend fun­and-games with no-nonsense virtue, this newest BMW also reflects another

Chuck Christensen at the wheel of the infamous Green Car in its glory days. Note custom rear body work courtesy

traditional American article of faith -our unshakable belief that we can find and marry a pretty girl who will expertly cook, scrub floors , change diapers, keep the books, and still be the greatest thing since the San Francisco Earthquake in bed. It's a dream to which we cling eternally, in spite of the fact that nobody can recall it ever hav­ing come true. But, as if to erase our doubts, along comes an inexpensive little machine from Bavaria that really can perform the automotive equivalent of all those diverse domes­tic and erotic responsibilities, and hope spnngs anew.

I'll be interested to see who those 10,000 owners of the I968 BMW 2002 actually turn out to be. The twits won't buy it, because it's too sensible, too comfortable, too easy to live with. The kids won't buy it because it doesn't look like something on its way to a soft moon -landing and it doesn't have three-billion horsepower. BMW buy-

of Bill Petersen. Note body lightening courtesy Mother Nature. Note custom left headlamp half fu ll of water.

ers will - I suspect - have to be pretty well-adjusted enthusiasts who want a good car, people with the sense of humor to enjoy its giant-killing per­formance and the taste to appreciate its mechanical excellence.

They will not be the kind who buy invisible middle-of-the-line 4-door sedans because that's what their friends and neighbors buy, nor will they be those pitiful men/ boys who buy cars and use them as falsies for fleshing out baggy jockstraps. Good horses don't like bad riders, and it's doubtful if the 2002 will attract too many of the timid or confused fantasy-buyers . It's too real.

That last phrase is kind of a key to the whole BMW bag. It is too real. For a couple of years now, "unreal" has been a big word with the semi-literate savages of hot rodding. It's supposed to be a high compliment, but it turns out to be an unwittingly incisive com­ment on the whole metalflake-angel

hair-Batmobile scene. LSD is a drag, not a drug, for that group. Gurus like George Barris and Ed Roth were blow­ing their minds on fiberglass and tuck­and-roll upholstery while the Indians still thought peyote nuts were some­thing you put on chocolate sundaes.

Let me tell you there's nothing unreal about the 2002. Give it a coat of pear­lescent orange paint and surround the pedals with lavender angel hair and it would just naturally die of shame. Like a good sheep dog, it is ill-suited for show competition , only becoming beautiful when it's doing its job. It is a devoted servant of man, delighted with its lot in life, asking only that it be treated with the respect it deserves . You can't knock that ...

What you like to look for are Tri­umphs and Porsches and such. Them you can slaughter, no matter how hard they try . And they always try. They really believe all that jazz about their highly-tuned super-sophisticated sports machines , and the first couple of drubbings at the hands of the 2002 make them think they're off on a bad trip or something. But then they learn the awful truth , and they begin to hang back at traffic signals , pretending that they weren't really racing at all . Ha! Grovel , Morgan. Slink home with your tail between your legs, MG-B. Hide in the garage when you see a BMW com­ing. If you have to race with some­thing, pick a sick kid on an old bicycle.

But I don't want you to get the notion that this is nothing more than a pocket street racer. The BMW 2002 may be the first car in history to suc­cessfully bridge the gap between the diametrically-opposed automotive re­quirements of the wildly romantic car nut, on one hand, and the hyperprag­matic people at Consumer Reports, on the other. Enthusiasts ' cars invariably come off second-best in a CU evalua­tion, because such high-spirited steeds often tend to be all desire and no pro­tein - more Megdelen than Mom.

CU used to like the VW a lot, back when it was being hailed as the think-

ing man's answer to the excess of Detroit, but now that the Beetle has joined Chevrolet at the pinnacle of establishment-acceptance, it's falling from CU's favor. But the BMW 2002 is quite another matter. It is still obscure enough to have made no inroads at all with the right-thinking squares of the establishment. It rides like a dream. It has a surprising amount of room inside. It gets great gas mileage. It's finished, inside and out, like a Mercedes-Benz, but it doesn't cost very much. All those qualifications are designed to earn the BMW a permanent place in the Con­sumer hall of fame. But for the enthu­siasts - at the same time, and without even stepping into a phone booth to change costume - it goes like bloody

hell and handles like the original bear. No doubt about it, the BMW 2002 is bound to get Germany back in the CU charts, to borrow a phrase from the pop vernacular.

If it wasn't already German, I'd be tempted to say it could be as American as Mom's apple pie or Rapp Brown's carbine. Not American in the same sense as the contemporary domestic car , with all its vast complexity and nouveau riche self-consciousness, but American in the sense of Thomas Edi­son and a-penny-saved-is-a-penny­earned and Henry Ford I (before his ego overloaded all the fuses and short­circuited his mind and conscience). The 2002 mirrors faithfully all those basic tenets of the Puritan ethic on which our Republic was supposedly based. It does everything it's supposed to do , and it does it with ingenuity, style, and verve.

The Germans have a word for it. The German paper A V TO Bl LD called the 2002 Flustern Bombe which means "Whispering Bomb," and you should bear in mind that the German press speaks of bombs, whispering and oth­erwise, with unique authority . They, too, saw something American in the car's design concept, but only insofar as BMW had elected to stuff a larger, smoother engine into their smallest vehicle.

But that's really pure BMW, when you think about it. The current 2000 series started life in 1962 as a 1600, then it became an 1800 and finally a full two-liters - going from 94 to 114 horsepower in the process. The current 1600 was introduced about a year-and­a-half-ago, and BMW-philes every­where began to think of that glorious day in the future when the factory would decide to put in the 2-liter engine. Well, sports fans, the glorious day arrived, and the resulting automo­biles is everything the faithful could have been hoping for.

The engine cranks out 114 hp at

continued on page 24

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Sometimes the best scenes never appear on the screen by Denise McCluggage

He glowered at me from the driver's seat - a world-class glower. And he pointed a finger in my direction - a serious finger. "Don't you dare touch that! I forbid it!"

And I didn't touch it. Probably you've heard that voice

and seen that finger , too, and you wouldn 't have touched it either. He was 6'5" with hands the size of a left­fielder's glove. His face was strong. His voice, however forceful , always held some thunder in reserve. And one eye, when he was under stress, tended to wander off on its own. He considered that errant eye a weakness, but actu­ally the uncertainty of where he was really looking was even more daunting.

The "it" that I ,,asn't to touch was something under tile hood. What exact­ly it was I don't recall , but I know it was tantalizingly obvious. "It" had gone wrong before and I'd watched Gus fix it.

The man in the driver's seat was my husband of several months. We were beach-bound, top down, to escape the summer heat of Greenwich Vi llage. We were sti ll on Cornelia Street, hardly 50 feet from our walk-up flat, when the engine died.

"I bet I know what that is," I had said and jumped out and confidently lifted the hood. The hood was split in the center and opened one side at a time. The side I opened was opposite the driver.

He had said: Get back in here , and his tone froze me in place. "But, Mike," I said, "I can fix it." That's when his voice dropped, his finger came up, and the eye started veering off.

"Get back in here!" he repeated. 'Tm not going to sit in this car with a woman poking around under the hood!"

There it was. Our stares locked . Finally he looked

away, following his aberrant eye. "Go get Gus," he said. Some moments are held in memory like fossils in stone, perfect in every detail. This was one of them. The hazy sun, the city sounds, people walking by. And our little tussle of wills .

It may seem odd to you (Lord knows it does to me today) that I could have married the prototype of a Male Chauvinist Pig. Well, though the spe­cies was common then it had not been so publicly identified. And, too, Mike had a soft side that was uncommonly appealing - a sensitive nature that combined well with the flint. Some­times.

I had hoped that his obsession with what was properly _"masculine" and what was "feminine" would be tem­pered with time and logic. (In his view it was not "masculine" to carry grocer-

"Some moments are held in memory like fossils in stone ... this was one of them. "

ies home, so I did the shopping. Nor was it "masculine" to cook or wash dishes, so I did that. Washing windows was mine, too - not because it had a gender but because we lived on the fifth floor and he was afraid of heights. He read Shakespeare to me as I did the windows.)

I thought about this as I walked to the Morton Street Garage to get Gus. This matter with the car was different from the groceries or the windows. This meant money out of pocket. Money we couldn't spare. We proba­bly had no more than $10 for the entire day and Gus should be given half of that. For something I could fix if Mike would let me!

Our income was my income. Mike was an actor, "making rounds" and not getting far. He was tough to cast. (I sent him into a rage once when I said, "Mike, you're going to be marvelously successful after you're 50." OK, well­meant but not a smart thing to tell a struggling actor not yet 30.) I had taken a $500 advance on my news­paper salary for medical bills and then only needed $300 of it. So we bought the car for $200. It was grayish in color, had a rumble seat and was a Chrysler product. The rest is hazy. It was probably a 1938 or 1939 because it was 1953.

I was close to tears when I reached Gus. "He won't let me fix it." Gus was wise and gentle. He knew cars, and he knew people. Mike was still bloody­minded when I returned with Gus, who quickly did what I would have done and accepted only a dollar (and that only because he understood Mike's mood). Off we went for what - sur­prisingly - I recall as a rather nice day at the beach. We did not mention Gus or the car. I have a snapshot of Mike sitting on the sand squinting into the sun. He looks very young. Very vul­nerable.

1 said it was 1953. I know it was 1953 because that is the year we were mar­ried. Not the year we got married , but the year we were married. Eleven months, total. The car incident wasn't the reason we split up, but it was cer­tainly symbolic. At first it had been sort of fun - a challenge - to piay chameleon and turn myself into wha­tever color was in immediate demand, but then it wasn't fun any more. So it was over.

I watched Mike's career develop and every few years we might cross paths. And much later (when he was married to his fourth wife) we laughed about the stalled car on Cornelia Street. He had two Volvos by then. (I teased him, "And you're not even an orthodon­tist.")

We had re-established contact when

I heard that his Malibu house had burned in one of those sweeping Cali­fornia conflagrations. I'd run across some pictures of him in some old boxes - the snapshot that day on the beach and others. I thought he might like them to replace any that the fire had taken so I sent them - along with congratulations on his first Emmy -to his TV show address.

After that he would phone every so often and we would talk an hour or two and laugh about windows washed to Shakespeare and my astute predic­tion that he would make it after 50 . And the car, always the car.

I had read that he had cancer. Yes, he did. How nobly he dealt with it. Never once: Why me? Just pride that he still knew his lines and only once after a bout in the hospital did he agree to resort to cue cards.

Four years ago this month he died . The obit page of The New York Times ran his picture. I have a picture of him - a poster, really - with that familiar pointed finger and his most famous line: "Let's be careful out there ." Sgt. Esterhaus of Hill Street Blues was probably his best known role, but my favorite Michael Conrad performance was in the movie , Castle Keep .

And on Cornelia Street in a stalled car with the hood up . Ed. note - this article was reprinted from Autoweek. Quite a story - look forward to more of the same when Denise speaks at our banquet Novem­ber 19.

New Addition to the BMW Service Tester

There is a new addition to the BMW Service Tester, the $28,000 gadget built by Sun that attaches to the diagnostic plug under the hood. This addition is a $10,500 device called a Diagnostic Module, which is really a computer with micro-floppy disk drives (the type

used with the Apple Macintosh com­puter). For output display, it uses the CRT screen already in the Service Tes­ter. There will be one micro-floppy for each model and year of car. The first car to make use of the Diagnostic Module is the new 735i

The way the Service Tester interacts with the car is quite interesting. On the car there is (can you believe it?) a local area network, consisting of a twisted pair of wires between all computers and control units and terminating in the diagnostic plug. The Service Tes­ter, with its computer, joins this net­work when it is plugged in.

What can the Service Tester compu­ter do on the network is the question. It can first of all make a call over the network to each of the car's computers to see which ones are there and work­ing. One particular car will not have all possible computers on it. For example, our American 735i models will have a climate control computer (i.e. air­conditioner) , but not a heater compu­ter since the heating and air-conditioner are one unit. Second, it can ask each computer what faults it has found. Most of the computers record the occurrence and the number of each type of fault since the last service was done. Some even record under what conditions the fault occurred, such as engine RPM, temperature, etc. In this way, intermittent faults on the car can be diagnosed and (hopefully) corrected even if the fault can not be reproduced while the car is in for service . Third, when the service technician has fixed a fault (it isn't clear you can call him mechanic anymore) he can erase the fault memory of the computer detect­ing the faults in preparation for the next service interval.

Some computers do not record occurrence of faults , such as the instrument cluster computer. However, they and others can do some pretty smart things to help diagnose the cause of a problem. For example, suppose a power window doesn't work. The first thing the Service Tester computer can do to help is to display the status of the power window switch. It gets this information off of the computer net­work, independent of the computer that controls the window, which in this case is the ZKE computer. If the switch input to ZKE looks good, one can look at the output. We can see if ZKE has understood the input signals and is outputting a signal to raise or lower the window. We can simulate ZKE's out­put signal from the Service Tester to see if the window motors work even if ZKE is down. Let me tell you, its really weird to see the car's windows go up and down after punching buttons on the Service Tester. And worse yet , you better watch where you are standing before asking the Service Tester to turn on the windshield washers.

The system seems to be very well thought out. Modern computer elec­tronics are services in similar fashion . But as with modern computers, repairs are not really made in the field, instead whole modules are replaced. Thus, if a problem is caused by a module like ZKE, you're probably going to pay for a new ZKE, unless it is still covered by the 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty. Another trend in computer repair is remote diagnosis via a modem (com­puter network interface to telephone lines). I can see that the next step is that someone from Montvale, NJ tells you what is wrong with your disabled BMW sitting next to a phone booth in Bar­stow. Don'tJaugh, the new 7 is already pre-wired for cellular phone, so it might not even be necessary to find a phone booth.

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23 ~ > ;:)

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continued from page 16

5800 rpm and the way it's geared it just seems to wind forever - it'll actually turn 60 mph in second, and an easy 80 in third. Top speed (which doubles as cruising speed) is a shade over a hun­dred , and nothing in the chassis , run­ning gear, or engine ever gives the impression that it's being worked too hard .

It's like effortless , no kidding. It couldn 't come down the side of a mountain any more gracefully if Gower Chapion choreographed the whole trip.

Maybe the neatest part of the whole deal is the fact that the 2002 was origi­nally proposed as a kind of second­choice, American anti-smog version fo the wailing l 600Ti they were se lling in Germany, but the second choice ver­sion turns out to be better than the original. The 2002 is faster 0-60, and faster at the top end as well. Not to mention the fact that it's a whole lot smoother and quieter.

How they can do all that good stuff and then screw it up with one of those incredible Blaupunkt radios is a little hard to imagine, but that's what they did. The rule with Blaupunkt and Becker seems to be, "The Bigger and More Complicated and Expensive Our Radios Are, The Lousier The Recep­tion ." The 2002 had a lovely-looking AM / FM affair neatly slipped into its console - easily a hundred-and-fifty bucks worth of radio - and I couldn't pick up a Manhattan station from the far end of the Brooklyn Bridge. Hon­estly. It was maybe the dumbest radio anybody every stuck in an automobile , like all Blaupunkt and Becker radios, yet the German car makers - for rea­son unknown - continues to use them.

It's a great mystery. Motorola, Ben­dix, Delco, and Philco can all se ll you fool-proof, first-class radios for about 75 bones - the Japanese can knock one off for about 98 cents - but the German car radio you can buy throws up its hands in despair if you expect it

to pull in a station more than three­quarters of a mile away.

Fortunately, the BMW is fast enough that you can keep picking up new stations as the old ones fade away. What you really want to do in this case, though, is install a good domestic ste­reo tape system. Maybe a little kitchen, too. The car is nice enough that you'll probably want to spend an occasional weekend in it - especially when you're fighting with your wife, or there's nothing good on television.

A final word of adv ice. The crazy­mad little BMW 2002 is every bit as good as I say it is - maybe better. If the 1600 was the best $2500 sedan C/ D ever tested, the 2002 is most certainly the best $2850 sedan in the whole cotton-picking world. Besides, the model-number was increased by 25%, but the price increase for the larger engine only amounted to 14% and if that ain't a fair deal ...

Feel free to test-drive one, but please don't tell any of those ten million squares who are planning to buy some­thing else. They deserve whatever they get. Now turn your hym nals to Num­ber 2002 and we 'II sing two choruses of Whispering Bomb ...

--WTCU

Weyerhaeuser Tacoma Credit Union

909 So .. B6th, Suite 100 (206) 924-7530 Federal Way, WA 98005 1-800-922-WTCU (Inside WA) Mail Stop: ASH 1-800-334-WTCU (Outside WA)

Serving salaried Weyerhaeuser employees worldwide. (and all BMW A CA members)

NCUA

Classified Marketplace

FOR SALE: Andy Barcheck's beauti­ful concours winning 1971 2800CS. Been putting off buying an early coupe for fear of rust? My photographic proof of soundness will cure your rus­tophobia. This car has undergone a well documented , quality, groundup restoration by the talented (and mod­est) owner. It has: cooling, lubrication and brake updates: suspension, wheel / tire , carburetor (Webers), seat belt, insulation and structural upgrades; new tan leather seats, $2500 black fac­tory paint, carpets, clutch, exhaust, rubber, many other new parts. You can find a cheaper coupe but you won't find a better one. This one will still be around long after the others have returned to the earth. Asking $18,000. (206) 373-9616.

RENT-A-RACER: (2) ITB BMW 2002's available for selected race week­ends or drivers schools. The infamous "Green Car" and clone. These cars are winners. For details contact Terry Flanagan@ 392-5110 days, 392-1147 eve.

FOR SALE: '82 Buick Skylark 4 door, 2.5 Liter 4 cyl , 103k , A / C, PS , AM/ FM stereo cassette, new battery, new auto-trans, and new shocks, im­maculate velour interior , nice car $1500.00 OBO, call Chris at 226-9478 or 234-5881.

FOR SALE: BMW 318i Parts. New Exhaust Catalytic Convertor, New Muffler/ Tailpipe, used alternator, tail light lenses. Call Chris at 226-9478 H or 234-5881 W make offer.

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continued from page 28

And it wasn't one of those deals where I drove at the outer limits for long

stretches to make up for the slow times; it's just that I was able to main­tain a fast, steady pace, rarely touching a hundred, rarely dipping below sev­enty. Joyful driving. Concentrated driving. And when I stopped for a cof­fee break in Oregon, I was amazed to see what time it was; I felt as refreshed and exhilarated as my less slothful friends tell me a good workout makes them feel.

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Now, I don't know if the Blackbird looks like a cop in people's mirrors or what, but they moved over to the right lane, usually while I was still a long way off. (I moved over, too , for a Porsche and BMW.) Or maybe they've read all the stories and thought I was one of those guncrazed freeway shoot­ers. Whatever it was , for a while there we were back in the old days, when men were men and roads were to drive on. May they come again soon.

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BMW ACA activities are partially supported by a generous grant from BMW of North America.

~

!28

Use it or lose it: Thoughts on

high-speed driving skills by Satch Carlson

Well , they're at it again, Martha; just when you thought it was safe to head back out on the freeways, Ferlin's loaded up the magnum and takin' pot­shots at bewildered strangers.

In Oregon this time. Think of it: Oregon! The last re­

maining refuge of the truly Orgo, where the Lifestyle Police check you for Bir­kenstocks at the border, and every known sandwich comes with seventeen kinds of sprouts on it, and people eat the damn things , instead of shoving them off to the side like parsley, which they almost are. Where the entire beautiful coastline is reserved as state parklands, and where they elected one of the only two Senators with enough moral conviction to vote against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution . Land of peace, love and brotherhood - and they turn out to be as crazy as the rest of us .

I blame the 55-mph speed limit for all of this.

In fact, there are times when I get so paranoid about the past fifteen years of senseless speed laws that I begin to sense a Machiavellian plot, a grand scheme designed to stick us with the 55 forever. According to this scenario, the plan was to keep the 55 intact long enough for everybody to forget how to drive, and then run it back up to 65 or so -where it sits in Oregon right now, by the way - and watch the inevitable confrontations between the people who drive and the poor boobs who haven't a clue.

I haven't heard a lot during the last decade and a half about making our drivers safer; instead the debate has been over speed, as if there is some­thing intrinsic in velocity itself that affects traffic safety. It reminds me of the people who solemnly predicted

that if a man ever reached a hundred miles an hour he would surely be killed; nowadays they are calling 65 unsafe because they have created an entire sub-class of bozos who have never had to learn anything about driving.

That's the real trouble with the 55 ; you can do it without much conscious effort. (In fact, that's just the problem, according to Bob Bondurant; the 55-driver simply isn't concentrating. He is vaguely herding his car down the high­way, and if something exciting hap­pens, he's way behind thinking about what to do about it.) This is a country which apparently believes it is more important to know how to parallel park than how to handle a carat speed .

What's worse , being Americans , we have never been responsive to arbi­trary authority. In the words of one writer, we have voted with our feet; many of us recognize no speed limit but the old Basic Speed law: don't go too fast for conditions . But nowadays those conditions include radar cops and fast-lane dawdlers as well as road and weather.

Meanwhile, the cars are better and better.

Back when there was no speed limit in Nevada (and a limit of 70 on many California freeways), there were cars that would go quite fast , but it was a terrifying ride; the brakes and han­dling were simply not up to the task of balancing the speed and power. Our interstate highways were designed for these boats to go cruising at 70 and above. But now the cars are better. Brakes are unbelievable; a ho-hum sedan can out-corner most sports cars of yesteryear; and the package is bal­anced for•safe , high-speed running all day long.

Which is where indignation comes m.

There are, you see, people who prefer to drive at 55 and lower (and I have yet to see one ticketed for it.) There is something they find offensive in the

very idea that anybody would want to go any faster than that, for any reason; they get very indignant at the notion of speeding, especially now that we can (in some places) put ourselves in the heady regions of 65; my god, man, how fast do you want to go?

When I was learning to drive, just after the introduction of pneumatic tires , my instructors stressed a simple idea: Don't bother anybody. This meant if we were driving faster than another car, we were to slow during the approach, pass gently (leaving plenty of room) and accelerate smoothly away. We were to flash our high beams to let 'em know we were coming, and we were taught that if we saw those high beams in our own mirrors, we were to give way.

"The car behind you ," said the instructors , "is obviously traveling fas­ter; let him go by. Maybe he's just a faster driver in a faster car, and his comfort level is higher than yours . Maybe it's an emergency, and he has to get somewhere quickly; you just don't know. In any case, maintain the speed at which you 're comfortable - and let other people maintain theirs."

Didn't seem like such a radical idea at the time.

Why should it matter to anybody else how fast I drive, as long as I'm driving safely and don't get in any­body's way? But it does, it does; occa­sionally somebody will work out the math and frown. "At the speeds you drive, you only get there an hour faster than I do. What are you doing with that hour that's so important." And I haven't found a way to explain it's not that hour that's important, it's the time I spend driving. At 55 I'm not driving, I'm crawling. I stare at the road. My mind wanders. I have to remind myself of what I'm doing. Time passes about the way it does in the dentist's office.

The last time I drove in California, I covered 320 miles in exactly four hours.

continued on page 26

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