Brand New BMW E28 M535i For Sale

Brand New? Well it was in 1985. I took this photo in a local BMW dealer showroom when I was maybe 12 years old, wandering around with a pile of brochures under my arm whilst my Dad chatted to the salesman (he had a 3 series at the time).

The M535i was unveiled at the 1984 Paris motor show and was basically a regular 535i with the M-Technic bodykit, suspension and wheels. 218bhp from the 3.5 litre engine lead to 143mph at the top end and 0-60 of around 7 seconds made for a rapid Porsche-worrying executive express, with only the hand built 286bhp M5 super saloon sitting higher in the 5er model tree.

A boat on the 'bahn: Amphicar

I've been going through some old photos from trips to Europe, putting up onto Flickr the ones I missed first time around. This one is of an Amphicar, the 1960s Triumph-engined German amphibious boat-auto hybrid.

Random fact: Hans Trippel, the designer of the Amphicar, was also responsible for the famous Mercedes Benz Gullwing doors!

It was quite a sight on the German Autobahn!

1972 Bugazzi Two-Door Custom Coupe by George Barris

I spotted this in the car park at the Hershey Lodge during the swap meet in the Pennsylvania chocolate town last October. The Bugazzi was originally the idea of a talented car show promoter and designed by an ex-GM stylist, however manufacture was soon taken over by legendary custom-car creator George Barris, the intention being to sell up to 25 a year of what was termed "an American Rolls-Royce".









The car on which the Bugazzi was based, the Lincoln MkIV, was quite striking as it was but the Bugazzi is of another league entirely. The pinstriping is hand-applied gold leaf, the headlamps sit in brass surrounds and the wheel covers feature more gold - 24 carat. Thirty coats of pearl lacquer lay over the base white, and the interior is decorated with Italian marble. Only in 70s America could such wondrously kitsch vulgarity exist.

Twelve were made in total, selling for nearly three and a half times the cost of the base Lincoln and $10,000 more than a Rolls-Royce. Three are believed to still exist today. This one sold for $19,800 on the day I saw it and was recently back up for sale at $99,000 - quite an increase! But even at that price, what else could you buy that looks quite like it?

The Minisprint

Back in the 1960s the Mini was king. They were everywhere and dominated just about every motor sport they were entered into. The neat way in which the front and rear drivetrain/suspension assemblies were self-contained in a pair of subframes lead to many different variants on the original theme and numerous kit-car derivatives.

One of the most interesting has to be the Minisprint. Geoff Thomas and Neville Trickett met by chance at a race meeting at Castle Combe in 1965 and the project took off from there. It was realised that by reducing the frontal area of the Mini there would be both weight loss and aerodynamic gain, leading to a more competitive car.

Rather than simply treat the basic Mini to a roof chop, the body work was also "sectioned", a horizontal slice taken out of the metalwork to further lower the stance. This was quite a tricky task, as it required extensive reworking of the metal and attention to the doors, bonnet and boot lid. The external seams and gutters were also removed, further smoothing out the shape.

The project wasn't intended to be a one-off, and both race car and road versions were developed. Initial interest was strong, and the car looked fantastic - at first glance just like a regular Mini but with clearly different proportions.





The Minisprint wasn't a race circuit success as by 1966, the year after the initial meeting of the two creators, just about every saloon car class had regulations dictating that the silhouette of the car had to remain similar to that of a standard production example - something that the Minisprint could not comply with. Plenty of road cars were sold though, and after some 85 Minisprints were built the project was sold to Stewart and Ardern - the world's largest distributors of Morris Cars at the time. The S&A Mini Sprint was first shown at the Racing Car Show, London Olympia, in 1967.



Thomas and Trickett moved on to other projects, Trickett created several kit car designs amongst other things, and Thomas went on to build up Rob Walker Garages, including the Formula 1 racing team, winners of the British Grand Prix in 1968.