COOP

Hi there! I met you and your family at Concours on the Avenue last August in Carmel (below) during your search and enjoyed meeting you. That was the crazy day that I sold my beloved ‘72 Baikal tii (a totally unforeseen event). I’m glad that you found a car and it’s nice to see your blog. Stay in touch! COOP

I somehow doubt Roger has survived and thrived for as long as he has in THIS environment by “screwing in the pocket book.” As mentioned, I’ve dealt with the man for many years without issue and so I’m doubting my “tune will change” much as relates to his business practices. What brand of “shit” are you “walking” here? COOP

I’ve spent thousands of dollars with Roger over many years and have had nothing but great experiences. I have found his prices to be fair and his service to be faultless. He provides an excellent support role to our community by stocking a huge variety of parts with a wealth of knowledge to back them with. It seems that some people can be awfully precious these days. If they’re not continuously cradled ike flannel-swaddled, slumbering babes at every juncture of each transaction, they quickly resort to shrill, plaintive, bleating & winging noises. Roger is a transplanted, no-nonsense, East Coaster who delivers the goods with integrity and a dry, direct style of communication, but he isn’t big on catering to the hypersensitivity so prevalent here in the Bay Area (and elsewhere). I think that often creates a bit of a culture clash...but the man is solid, as long as you don’t feel the need to be held and gently rocked every time you contemplate the life-defining decision of new beltline trim...and as long as his aol email doesn’t encroach upon the bedrock of your self-satisfied, hipster street-cred. COOP (Bostonian transplant in the BA) PS: Also love me some Blunt, Ireland & CNPR with many years of great service from all.

I’m personally not into making disparaging comments about other people’s cars and, by consequence, their labors of love. The whole point of this hobby is individualism/self-expression and you can easily not like something without being demeaning. If you say that someone’s car looks like shit, you’re basically saying that their taste and style and efforts are shit...which isn’t very nice. That car is about as far as I can imagine from my own personal aesthetics...but kudos to the owner for executing his personal vision with such attention to detail and dedication. COOP

The Esty & Al drama...lol, that is ancient history! It was certainly entertaining at the time, although a bit painful...I got into it with Al at one point, can’t even remember why...but all was forgiven when he delivered a gorgeous, wool headliner for my tii/M2 and I met him one year when the Bay Area Swap & Show was still in Palo Alto. COOP

VERY cool. Congratulations!! That is spectacularly beautiful, I love the colors, especially with the gold wheels...and the scream of that motor is just awesome! What are you planning on doing with it? Did it come with spares? Nice find and Happy New Year! COOP

I safety-wired my pedal which worked great... COOP

Vantage Motorsports on Fahey Street in Stamford, CT for the best I’ve encountered first-hand. http://www.vantagemotorsports.com/ I’m obviously assuming that you mean “most correct and nice resto work” over-and-out (as you say) as opposed to “I want filet mignon quality for hamburger pricing.” COOP

Mad respect for Mr. Dixon...Serious talent and commitment. The execution and attention to detail really showcase his perfectionism. I also like how he says “alt-anator.” Must be a Michigan thing. Yvrclimber, it’s funny to describe this total reengineering of an automobile as an “upgrade!” COOP

Dear Dave...Those pictures make my heart ache, my stomach turn and my skin crawl. I’m so sorry for your loss and I wish you strength and courage during these difficult times. I have friends and clients from the Coffey Park neighborhood of SR who also lost everything...except for the only thing that truly matters at the end of the day: Namely their lives. Take care of yourself, seek out the strength of your friends & family and here’s to the hope that some day you’ll have another ‘72 tii in a new garage. COOP

Well aware of the “collectible” delineation, but Google research suggests that autos are not included and therefore subject to the lower (15%) rate...which still sucks. Yes, I got lucky in that (as the Bimmer article covered) I managed but didn’t pay for the major restoration of the car at Vantage in CT back in 1998. The price tag for that was $55K in ‘98 dollars. I’d be surprised if the seller of the BaT car has to worry about much, or any, CG given the extent and quality of the work performed under his stewardship. COOP

Don’t remind me! I’m not going to screw around with those guys...I’m just going to grit my teeth and pay it, not worth messing around. At “least” the CG rate is “only” 15% but it’s still going to be a major hit. The only way to avoid paying CG (other than being paid with a brown bag filled with cash) is a “1031 Exchange” in which you have up to 2 years to purchase a vehicle of equal or greater value to the price of the car you just sold + enhancement expense. Same concept as rental properties... COOP

This pretty much tells the whole dang story lol...If you keep clicking on a pic, you can zoom to the point that it's clear enough to read. Not trying to be flippant but I think that Bimmer told the story better than I can now after a long and disappointing work day! Happy to fill in any blanks that are not addressed in the article... BTW, apologies to everyone for hijacking the heck out of this thread...Originally just wanted to add my usual '02 cents to the whole "value discussion." COOP

Something very sexy and racy...It’s called a “Patio 2000” and my Wife is heavily involved in the design concept... Once the mighty, COOP Seriously though, just gonna enjoy the M2 and the motorcycles for awhile!

lol, touché! COOP

I sold my Baikal (originally Sahara)/Saddle ‘72 tii (sunroof car with 54K documented miles and reams of records going back to 1972) at Concours on the Avenue in Carmel this past August (an hour after it had won Best in Class) for a price that makes this result look positively tame. I had no plans of selling it and had never even mentioned to a single soul that I’d entertain a sale...but the price was an opportunity that I would have been stupid to pass on. Yes, I still miss her. I never saw this BaT car in person but it looked like a gorgeous car. My friend and OCD body-man, Roger Elle, who knew my tii intimately, saw this car at Legends and texted me “it’s a pretty straight car but not even in the same class as yours.” When I pressed him for further details, he said “the paint looks dead compared to your car, the interior isn’t nearly as nice, there’s no sunroof and it doesn’t have even close the provenance of your car.” That’s Roger, it sure looked sweet to me! Respectfully, I think that there are a few things that the “A-Fool-Is-Born-Every-Minute” contingent is missing. First, I think that some people are not grasping the enormous scale of wealth that we’re talking about with buyers who pay the top dollar prices. For the most part, they are not you and I, dear fellow FAQers. They are people to whom another $100K or so means NOTHING if they really want something badly enough. The European gentleman who bought my car recently spent a million dollars on the restoration of a 1953 Italian exotic, including nearly $100K to recreate a missing transmission (case, gears, synchros, everything). His attitude was that he might never encounter a tii as nice as mine and he wasn’t getting on a plane home without having secured it. By the way, he was/is no fool. He is a self-made success story worth hundreds of millions who builds global companies, not to mention an MBA who speaks 5 languages. He was 100% aware of the past precedents and “market value” (whatever that means) for tiis...and couldn’t care less, as long as my car was relocated ASAP from my garage in Oakland to his in Belgium. Another crucial consideration here is simple demographics. In general, the people paying the really big prices for these cars (and other cars of the late 60’s/early 70’s) were in college or grad school and broke when they were new. They lusted after these cars in their youth but couldn’t afford to buy them, not even close. Now, 40-50 years later, they’re hugely wealthy and can purchase whatever they want, in this case not only a car but an object that brings them instantly back to a nostalgic, romantic, magical reference point in their lives. That feeling is really what they’re paying for: They can’t be 20 again, but a showroom-time-warp tii can make them feel 20...and how do you put a price on that?! By the way, an interesting point about the factory, 2002 Turbo. Yes, they’re rare and cool...but some people don’t covet them nearly as much as they do a nice tii. First, they’re nowhere near as sweet of a pure, “driver’s car” and few people disagree about that. Second, their style is quite polarizing, with some finding them “period-awesome” while others view their riveted flares and loud graphics to be too flashy. COOP PS: A couple shots of my car below, the day that it sold. Sigh...

Because at any given moment, what something rare and beautiful (market supply) is “worth” (market value) is determined precisely by how much one financially qualified buyer loves it and wants to possess it (market demand).

1976 911S 2.7L in original color, bought new by my Dad from Annis Morrill Porsche Audi on Rt 9 in Natick MA...and yes, I'm not feeling the Ansa exhaust system either... COOP

I personally like to put them on with a pleated miniskirt, or sometimes just by themselves for a strong, first impression on job interviews... COOP

I acquired an NOS QR box a few years back for my '73 tii M2 2.5L, immaculate and still in the candy wrapper packaging. I traded a very well-done Alpina A4 replica multi-butterfly TB system straight across for it with a dear friend and we were both happy. He actually had two of the NOS QR boxes, God knows how or why. From my before/after impressions using the car purely for back road banshee driving, the QR box is night and day relative to the standard unit and for me the value is there...it is pure magic, particularly in how easy it is to make mid-corner and corner exit adjustments on the gas when things get squirrelly. I absolutely adore it! Parking and low speed turns into the gas station require no-fun grunting and wrenching, particularly with a Momo Competition wheel...but I'll take the trade off any day. COOP

It's a Sonoma Wine Country Classic tradition at Sears Point. I've witnessed it a half dozen times, all of these incredible vintage race cars motoring into the Sonoma Square...so epic and memorable! Fantastic video by the way... COOP

Hey Tom, I'm jealous that you have other good friends with Baikal tiis! I thought I was the only one...mine was a '72. As others have suggested, a quality appraisal is a must and I'd have it redone at least every two-three years to reflect new comps. I don't use Hagerty's btw. I use Travelers and have been impressed with their service and general ease of dealing with them. My M2 is covered by them for 6 figures and the policy is reasonable. COOP