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30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:10 pm
by GRNSHRK
Well, actually on April 14, 1990, so make that 30 years and 5 days #-o

So here's the story, keeping in mind that there was no internet yet :-?

About a year and a half after the demise of my '77 Euro 633 due to a parking lot accident by 2 inept drivers (it was parked, I wasn't even in it) I put an ad in the Roundel wanted section, for a series I, hoping for something somewhat local, as I was still living in NJ at the time :-"

I got a few responses, one of great interest from a gent in NC. It was an '80 US model 633, only 53k on the clock, original owner had it serviced by Korman regularly, and had recently changed hands to the current owner, who performed some tasteful mods, including 635 front airdam, M6 rear spoiler, E28 M5 wheels, to name a few, along with a killer stereo =D>

So I asked the owner what the color combination was, and replies that it's green over beige leather :|

Green :shock:

All I could picture was some of the hideous colors that were coming out of Germany (West) at the time, resembling something that the pet cat hocked up :-&

So I asked to send me some photos, recalling that there's no internet yet, so snail mail it was :-({|=

When they arrived, I fell in love with the Cypress Green paint color, and I was sold :mrgreen:

We made arrangements to wire a portion of the asking price, and he drove the car up from NC to NJ with a one-way ticket from Newark back to Raleigh/Durham or wherever he was going :-"

And that was that, 30 years ago, obviously still have her, although she's had quite a few more mods and improvements since then :roll:

Now, would I ever do that again :-k

Hell no, but it does make for a great story :roll:

Thought I'd share, as we grind through these boring days of confinement ](*,)

I'll try and scan one of the original photos, but here's a more recent one \:D/

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:54 pm
by baders
That's a great story Bobbo and an indication of your dedication !

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 7:10 am
by zinnocoupe
Bobbo, Awesome story, thx for sharing. I had no idea you had owned that car for so long. Thats quite a leap of faith buying a car like that. Snail mail . LOL . I think that car was lucky you came along. Its doing well.

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:08 am
by olympia57
Well done Bobbo .
It's a wonderful thing to own a car for such a long time , memories , friendships , photos and events along the way are like a library that you can delve into and relive .
The car that was replaced by my E24 was with me from 1977 to 2013 , 36 years . It lives about 40 miles from me and the owner is as fastidious as I could ever hope for so I have no sadness in it's absence .
It's unlikely the E24 will equal 36 years though ........unless I'm interred in it .

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:59 pm
by GRNSHRK
Thanks guys, not sure how "well done" that was or a "leap of faith", suffice to say that I was not as "wise" as I am now :-?

But it all worked out, tons of memories now, such as 18 years of Pacific Sharkfests =D>

I've made so many friends through the ownership of the 6, I couldn't possibly count them :wink:

BTW, she turns 40 in June \:D/

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:37 pm
by 635sharknose
What a great story! Congratulations!
So nice to see that people can own a car for so long with so much passion. =D>
I assume you will never sell it!

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:25 am
by madridcab
Great story, kept my first e24 some 10 or 12 years I believe, now with a good friend, on the 2nd year with its replacement, would love to be able to make it 30...

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:44 pm
by Pod
Great story.

I bought my first E24 in 1993 and still have it. Needs restoration now though :(

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:14 pm
by 635sharknose
Pod wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:44 pm I bought my first E24 in 1993 and still have it. Needs restoration now though :(
Long live the north European climate! :(

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:10 pm
by GRNSHRK
Scanned the original photos, along with the list of upgrades and mods, typed on Korman Autoworks letterhead =D>

No restoration required here, as life in California is very kind to cars :-"

Actually, it's been more of an evolution than anything :roll:

And yes, they are planning on burying me in her, so I guess I'll need a rather large plot #-o

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:13 pm
by GRNSHRK
Korman doc, forgot I can only attach 4 pix per post #-o

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:07 pm
by Slownrusty
That car is absolutely amazing. Stunning.
By the time I own my 635 for 30 years I will be close to 80, so I might be buried in mine as well...maybe we can have neighboring plots Bobbo?

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 11:27 pm
by GRNSHRK
Thanks for the kind words, rusty, hopefully we won't need those plots any time soon [-o<

Labor of love, but you can see from the original photos when she was almost 10 years of age, she was in great shape \:D/

So all I had to do was keep up the good work, for 30 years :roll:

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 5:38 am
by Aaron H
Bobbo, your story somewhat reminds me of my own story with my 635. Though, mine happened only a few years ago.

I live in the Southeast. In a lot of areas times are still as they were 40 years ago mixed with a spattering of modern technology. Though, not received well by the majority. People still place ads in the newspaper (STILL referred to as "short print" around here), and people still write checks for bills and in the grocery store line. One rural area on the Nc/Tn border still utilizes a party line for their phone system. My house still has the 4 prong plugs for the phone wire jacks, and I still use the phone my house came with in 1938....a Western Electric rotary phone. Only this year did they replace our 1,000 watt incandescent street lights from the 1940' with LED's. (which pale in comparison). My house still uses pre war electric wall heaters for heat in the winter, and no air conditioning is present aside from a small window unit I sometimes use when it's unbearably hot.

The aforementioned was necessary to speak about, as it'll make my 635 story make more sense.

At the time I wasn't even looking for another car. I had plenty, and more than enough to keep me busy. One day I was looking in the "Short Print" (haha) and came across an ad for a 1986 BMW 635csi. The ad read something like "Light blue, blue leather, needs tune up, paint tired, decent tires, make offer or possible trade". And there was a phone number to call, as well as an address to write to. I called the phone number, spoke with the fella, and decided on a day to see the car. The area in which I live is often a haven for finding cars at fair prices that are normally waaayyyyy overpriced elsewhere in the country or world. An E24 is no exception.

I had recently been given a 1985 Mercedes 300D Turbo diesel that belonged to my brother. It needed some repairs that he didn't want to pay for, so he bought something newer and gave me his Mercedes. Now, I've been a diehard Mercedes owner for 25 years, but I've always had W108, W109, and W100 Mercedes cars. (280sel 4.5, 300sel 6.3, 600, etc). You can imagine the sour taste a W123 from the mid 1980's left in my mouth.....it definitely wasn't the right car for me. Yes, I've spoiled myself over the years, but not in a materialistic way at all. I feel that if any of you drove the cars I've driven for all of my driving life that you'd be equally dissatisfied upon first impressions of a W123. Granted, my brothers car was a well sorted car and had always been kept up. No expenses spared kind of care. So anyway, I thought that maybe the E24 seller would want the diesel Mercedes in trade or partial trade. I drove the Mercedes to where the seller was and offered the car to him in trade. He was very happy to oblige.

After spending about 30 minutes on the E24, I determined that number 6 cylinder had zero compression, and told the seller that he had to cough up some dough if he wanted to go through with the trade since there was a severe mechanical issue. Instead, he offered to tow the E24 all the way back to my house at no cost (a 60 mile drive), and I was happy with that.

I ended up having to do a valve job and timing chain/rail replacement all due to a broken rocker arm. The left rear quarter panel has a dent in it, but otherwise acquiring the car is one of the best decisions I've ever made. While the paint is tired, the leather is nice, the A/C has been repaired and still uses R-12, the original radio system works great.....in fact the only thing that doesn't work on the car is the rear window de-icer. I couldn't be happier, and plan on having the car for as long as I'm able to. It even looks good. It was ordered new with the M Sport package, and has the 5 speed manual transmission. It's in Cosmos Blue Metallic with blue leather.....a color the E24 wears very well.

So, the similarity to Bobbo's story here is that I also found and procured my E24 through a rather unconventional venue......a news paper ad and a phone call.....and some bartering.....all in 2018. The actual procurement cost me absolutely nothing. The fella that I got it from said that the car had been given to him in trade for some money that was owed to him, and since he had no interest in it he was glad to see it go. He was pretty much going to give it to me for the cost of a tow if he didn't want the Mercedes. So we both came out ahead. Now......had i asked for pictures...I would have likely received pictures in the mail, too. That's just how things are still done around here.

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 4:53 pm
by GRNSHRK
Aaron, great story and welcome to the madness =D>

I am going to send you a PM, so please check for that, as I may have some phones that you could use [-o<

The missus had a few old phones that we've been trying to get rid of, with old school plugs :-?

I'll send you my E addy, heck, here it is :roll:

[email protected]

This way we can exchange photos, as the PM feature doesn't permit that [-(

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 10:56 am
by olympia57
Nothing beats the visual pleasure of old original developed film photos ....the car looks magnificent in them.
I enjoy threads like these ,so keep any updates and period photos coming .
I love that colour Bobbo .

Aaron's home county makes rural Ireland seem like Orbit City from the Jetsons ...... :lol:

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 9:58 pm
by 85mvdelphinus
The Green Shark is looking great. Pretty interesting story especially the owner willing to drive it from NC to NJ. What about the rest of the story?
How and when did you acquire the '77 Euro? I think the first BMW I remember seeing was an orange Bavaria back in 1975 (Cleveland).

I have a NC to NJ story. My employer relocated our department to NJ in early 1982. The company shipped my RX-7 to me in NJ. The following morning I drove it to our temporary office near the Newark airport. I got there early and found a nice end spot in the parking lot. An hour later I went downstairs for a coffee and decided to walk outside to check on my car to make sure no one had parked too close. As I was walking I realized I couldn't see my car? It was gone! Stolen in less than an hour :( Welcome to New Jersey #-o.

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 4:12 pm
by GRNSHRK
Hey Don, sorry for the late reply, haven't been on the computer for a few days :-?

And also sorry, but I have to laugh about your story of the RX7 :shock:

Sheesh, stolen in less than an hour, I don't miss NJ one bit [-X

So, the rest of the story, goes back to 1983, when I bought my first BMW, an '83 320i S package, neat car with the full charcoal cloth Recaro interior and Bronzitbeige exterior =D>

Shortly after, I started noticing other BMW models and the long bonnet (hood) of the 6er caught my eye, and I was sold, had to have one :-"

I finally located a nice Euro example in '85, a '77 633, Fjord Blue over Pacific Blue interior, with the velour inserts and leather sides on the seats \:D/

1988 was not a good year for me, including the demise of this example that got totaled sitting in my work parking lot, by 2 inept drivers that got into a bender and smashed into the 6er as well :(

But in all honesty, this turned out to be a fairly rough example and I made out much better in the long run, obviously, looking at the green shark every time still tells me that I made the right decision :lol:

So that's the rest of the story 8)

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 10:32 pm
by 85mvdelphinus
No worries Bob.

Interesting story re the 1977 Euro. Fjord Blue is a really nice color. Here's a great story about the new "Fjord Blue":

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1188354

My first BMW was almost a 320i as well. I comparison shopped with the RX7-SE in 1980. The RX7 was much faster and less expensive ($10K vs $13K new) so I went with the Mazda. A few years later I purchased my first BMW (my 1985 635CSi) from Open Road BMW in Edison, NJ.

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 4:56 pm
by GRNSHRK
Don, thanks for that link, great story =D>

It's very cool that BMW still lets people special order colors and whatnot \:D/

And I can see where price comparisons would lead you away from a 320i :-?

Hope we can do a meet and/or day drive soon [-o<

Re: 30 years ago, Bobbo bought the green shark, sight unseen

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 5:16 pm
by GRNSHRK
Here's an old shot of the '77 with my nephew who was about 3 years of age at the time =D>

Guess he's around 35 now :-({|=

Amazing how "pedestrian" this example looks like compared to the green shark :-"