Every year (except during the pandemic), BMW lovers from far and wide converge in western North Carolina to attend The Vintage. The event is held in the town of Hot Springs, a few miles north of Asheville. It is a fun time to share stories, gaze and admire your friends' antique BMWs, and admire how much they must have spent on the meticulous paint jobs and reupholstering (using the correct type of paint, leather, etc.). And you can swap parts and tell tall tales.
I attended The Vintage in 2017 and 2018. My little car chugged along happily and did very well on the twists and turns of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Running over 2000 miles with some aggressive driving blasted out carbon and other gunk from the cylinders and fuel injectors.
Here is a small sampling of the cars gathered at Hot Springs and at the venue motel, the Hampton Inn & Suites in Fletcher.
Hot Springs
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| Rare Baur TopCabriolet version of the E21 body, 1978-1981. Probably not officially imported to USA. |
Baur was a German company that modified BMW sedans into convertibles or semi-convertibles. The E21 body had only been designed as a hardtop, so it was not rigid enough to remove the entire top. Therefore, you see this unusual partial open top.
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Beautiful clean US model 320i (note the 5 mph bumpers), 1975-1983
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The E21 was the first 3-series. It followed the famous 2002 model in 1975 and was in production until 1983.
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| BMW 700 Saloon, minus its bumpers, 1959-1965, 30 hp. |
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| BMW Isetta (1955-1962), with one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine |
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| BMW 600 Saloon, with single rear door and 582 cc boxer engine, 1957-1959 |
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| Paint an Isetta - show your artistic talents |
Fletcher, NC
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| Bauer TopCabriolet version of the famous 2002 coupe (1971-1974?). The wheels are modern. |
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| 2002 Touring (1971-1974), a fastback version of the 2002 sedan. This was rare and possibly not officially imported to USA. |
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| The gorgeous 3.0 CSI version of the E9 body (1971-1975; this one probably 1974) |
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| The ever-popular 2002 sedan, this one pre-1972 or 1973 |
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| Another 2002 sedan without front bumper and with modern wheels. Note the swing-out quarter window. |
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| E-28 4-door sedan (1981-1988), possibly a European model (note small bumpers) |
Heading Home
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a fun way to head west out of Asheville. My little car has nimble steering with excellent feedback for the winding roadway, and had no power issues despite its little 1800cc engine. I did not notice any obvious loss of power even at 6000 ft elevation. This car has Bosch
K-Jetronic fuel injection, which may adjust the fuel mixture for changing altitude.
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| My E21 320i, purchased new in Houston, Texas. Richard Balsam Overlook. |
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| Where did that fog and freezing rain come from? |
I bought this little car in Houston, a year after moving there with a brown non-air conditioned Buick. Summer of 1980 was just unbearable in the city, and so was the Buick.
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| April 1981, Houston, Texas (badly exposed Kodachrome slide). This grass strip is now the Westpark Tollway. |
This ends our short visit to The Vintage. I wrote about the
Blue Ridge Parkway in 2021 and the
road to Hot Springs in 2018. I will most likely not return to The Vintage. It is a long drive from the Pacific Northwest to North Carolina. Thanks for riding along!
