Un homme et une femme...

A really great film from the days when you would drive to the race, compete, then drive several thousand miles in the same car to see your lady (and home to my favorite on-screen pony)...

Best of all he loved the fall

Huge thanks to the William Brown Project and a time to get

Maybe the easiest car in the world to park.

In an inadvertent ongoing tribute to summery BMWs.... give it up, the BMW Z1:

It's not really about the looks with this one. I would pay good money to go back in time and be there when the chief designer goes, "Doors? Yeah, we decided they should slide down." Yes. Blow my mind. You know when you're driving and the door is in that not-open-but-not-shut-all-the-way-either position and you should probably wait until you reach the lights, but fuck it, you're a daredevil, and you open and shut it anyway, mid-drive? The Z1 gives you the permanent lunatic option, a bit like a Jeep Wrangler but without the stigma.

BMW sold around 8,000 of them, ending in 1991. Here's the deal though- illegal in the US- something about getting hit and being eye level with the grille of the other car and having nothing between you and it blah blah blah. I like to think that I'd be able to react in time to slide up the door and maybe even throw on a helmet so I did a little research.
Turns out you can keep one stateside if you can argue historical significance and keep it to 2,500 miles a year. Not sure how historical significance is going to help when a raised pickup goes through me, but I'll take it.

Nice bit of rough

I like (almost) everything to be well worn. Anything that's too well looked after feels a little too clinical for me. Leather should have some patina; guitars should be road-worn; jeans should be beat-up; things should show their history with pride. The same goes for cars. While there's a definitely a place for Concours, I'll have the one that's seen a lot of tarmac time. No rat-rod rust- I don't want tetanus from the bloody thing- just don't buff it to hell and gone. It's creepy when all you do is wax-on, wax-off....stop being such a nerd and drive the fucking thing.

The BMW 3 Series (E30) Convertible

The E30 was first introduced in 1982, and the last one left the Bavarian factory in 1994. The best known model from this era is undoubtedly the original autobahn-storming M3, but as far as bang for your buck is concerned, I think the 325i Convertible can't be beat. The 325i was pretty fast, rolling to 60mph in sub 7 seconds and given it's simple preppy aesthetic, I predict a resurgence in popularity.

Gertrude here seems pretty pumped and I don't blame her. You can easily find a decent one for sub $7k, and if it's a little rough around the edges, who cares? It makes the perfect summer beach wheels- oh, your bathing suit is still wet? Hop on in. The more sand the better, I say.
It's maybe a long shot to say that this model will go up in value the same way the earlier 2002 did but if it does, I totally called it.

This '87 from the UK only has 65k miles, is in excellent shape, and is priced at under £4k- call it $6k on these shores:

Easy. Slap on a pinstripe down the side and a monogram if you're bold....  and maybe only wear tennis whites.