I guess I’ve always been a car guy – from spotting cars as a kid to knowing most late ‘50 – ‘60s cars by their taillights. Car magazine subscriber beginning when I was 11. And I even remember Satch from his old AutoWeek days. So, by the time I’d turned 15 ½ (learner’s permit), I’d already had a year of driving under my belt from escaping in one of my parents’ cars when they were away and then sneaking about town with friends. I got my license on my 16th birthday and have been driving ever since. The first car I drove regularly (see above) was a ’64 Plymouth Valiant convertible with a 318 that I’d modded with a four-barrel, glass packs and improved springs and shocks. Anyone remember torsion bars and leaf springs?

I then moved to a 1957 International ¾ Ton Panel truck with three on the tree and no back windows for my high school job (fixing bicycles, go figure) and the first car I bought for myself at age 17 was a 1957 Mercedes 220S which remarkably ran for a year before it expired. It was a consolation prize for the rough but running ‘58 190SL that I missed by 15 minutes with $1,400 in my pocket. The 220S was way cheaper. Fortunately, working on bicycles through high school and college kept me in cars.

But BMWs – well after my father went through a series of massive domestic boats/wagons, he bought a 1972 Volvo 145 wagon as our family car. Enjoying driving for the first time in a long while, he decided to get a new daily driver for his commute. So that same year (still 16) I talked him into buying a BMW 2002 based on David E Davis’s “Turn in You Hymnals to 2002” a few years earlier. Since there weren’t any new cars in the showroom (San Francisco BMW and still distributed by Max Hoffman), our “test drive” was in a 5-year-old 1600. A couple of onramps at well over posted speed and it’s been BMWs almost ever since. Months later, a 1973 Atlantic Blue 2002 arrived. Shortly thereafter, my boss bought a used 1969 Neue Kasse 2000 sedan which was a hoot.

My 2002 on Feb 2, 2002

My dream cars back then were Avanti’s and Jensen Interceptors (the importer’s son was a friend of my younger brother). And I still think about Interceptors from time to time. But closer to earth, my college ride was a ’69 Plymouth Satellite wagon – wood sides and all - which I paid $1,000 for and sold for $500 after four years and 95,000 more miles. Next came a $600 ’70 ½ Firebird that I drove for about six more years and nearly 100,000 more miles. It even made a round trip up the Alaskan Highway where I was sure I was going to leave it broken on the side of the road, but it made the trip with only an oil change. I then bought back the 2002 from my Mom in the early ‘80s and it was a wreck – city car all dented and bruised, floors rusted, engine smoking and second gear synchros shot. Back in the day, a new factory engine cost about as much as a head rebuild – so easy choice. Along with a Metric Mechanics transmission I restored its mechanicals and then had it stripped down and repainted. That’s when I joined BMW CCA – so I’m now a 39-year member. But Puget Sound Region has 24 current members who have been part of the club even longer.

745 and M6 Together

My next BMW was a grey market 1984 745i (early turbo car) that I bought in the late ‘80s and it was my daily driver for 19 years before it met its demise in a deer strike at 70mph. By then, my wife had been converted with a 2004 E46 wagon (that is my current daily) and the 745i was replaced with an 2007 E90 335i which soon became my wife’s car. Then replaced with a 2015 F31 wagon which remains her daily.

M6 being chased by the M5 Ring Taxi at O'fest at Road Atlanta

In 2004, I bought my BMW dream car – a 1987 M6, so garage space being limited, the 2002 had to finally go. I still miss it. With the M6, I finally started driving HPDEs with the club and it’s been a slippery slope since. After a few years of HPDE, I decided to get an affordable, I mean expendable, track car – a 1995 M3 at about the bottom of their depreciation curve. It’s been since converted into a track rat – now completed its 14th year of track work, third engine, and countless tires, brakes, $$$ since…..and I’ve been instructing now for ten years. The M6 is again a garage queen sitting up on its 4-post lift wanting to know when we go on our next touring adventure.

M3 at The Ridge

What’s next? Who knows. Both our dailies keep on trucking and more than serve their purposes. New models have a lot less appeal to me – too complex, too expensive, too high performance for the street. Anyone relates to “Its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.”

My biggest regret – not buying a life membership to the BMW Club years and years ago. Oh, and missing that 190SL.

I’ve been to five Oktoberfests and countless tracks around the county in the company of many great members. BMWs are great of course, but it’s still about the people. Come join us at the track, on a tour, or at a show and see what it’s all about.

Current roles:

CCA member since 1985

Street Survival Instructor since 2009

HPDE Instructor since 2014

Chapter Treasurer since 2021

Chapter Co-Chief Driving Officer – Since 2021