Summer 20172017
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LOS ANGELES CHAPTER PRSRT STD OF THE BMW CAR CLUB OF AMERICA U.S. POSTAGE P.O. Box 4167 PAID Westlake Village, CA 91359 COVINA, CA PERMIT # 89 DATED MATERIAL WhisperingWhispering BombBomb SUMMER 2017 2017 SUMMER SUMMER Mike Buhbe took these pictures of classic cars in Cuba while recently on vacation. What’s Inside INSIDE FRONT COVER INSIDE BACK COVER VACATION IN CUBA ALTERNATIVE MODES OF CUBAN TRANSPORTATION Photos by Mike Buhbe Photos by Mike Buhbe 2 AN ACCIDENTAL BIMMERPHILE 15 GAS OR ELECTRIC and the SPECTRE by Mike Buhbe OF GLOBAL WARMING by Bill Blowers 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Delight Lucas (Past President) 16 BMW AT THE 2017 NEW YORK AUTO SHOW Crossroads 4 EDITOR’S COLUMN by James Chew Returning to the Scene of the “Crime” by Jean Helm 19 HUNTINGTON BEACH CONCOURS by Fred Larimer NEW MEMBERS 20 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 5 BAVARIAN WORKSHOP MANAGING EDITOR 6 DIVA’S WORLD JEAN HELM Taking the Long Way “Home” [email protected] by Diva Moose COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING MANAGER 7 CUBA – FOUR CAB RIDES (Ride One) CHRISTINE McBURNEY by Mike Buhbe 754 E. Arrow Hwy., Suite C I Covina, CA 91722 (626) 732-3600 I [email protected] 8 THE INTERSECTION OF X, XX and XY TECHNICAL EDITOR by Mark Buehler JORGE DIAZ-AMADOR 10 PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE PRINTING BYLAWS OF THE UNIQUE PRINTING LOS ANGELES CHAPTER OF THE BMW CCA (626) 732-3600 • Fax: (626) 209-4332 E-mail: [email protected] i 13 FIVE QUESTIONS FOR MARK BUEHLER, FRONT COVER: A REGULAR WB CONTRIBUTOR M6 GT3 SHOW US YOUR RIDE BACK COVER: 14 OCTOBER WINE TOURING Mike Buhbe’s daughter Melissa standing next to a 1953 Pontiac Chieftain. Photo taken in Cuba by Mike Buhbe. by Gerhard Fehrmann CALENDAR OF EVENTS 1 WB.07 2017 AN ACCIDENTAL BIMMERPHILE by Mike Buhbe Ever since I got my M Putting two BMWs in the garage sounds simple enough. My garage is twenty by twenty-four feet, larger than the “Coupe – my mid-life crisis standard square footprint of twenty feet. But my garage has only a single car door, and there lies the start of this delayed until old age ... complicated journey. ” To manage the project in simple terms – expand the single car door to a double door – I have made lists of pathological. I did give son Nick my Lionel train set, my features of the new garage, plumbing and electrical changes, childhood toy boxed for a fifty-year period of neglect, not and the bigger things such as paperwork from my city. I having been assembled once in that time. Daughter Melissa made a scaled cardboard template of 1’ to 1” with cutouts was re-gifted her college texts and high school yearbooks to represent the two cars, the washer dryer, the bikes, that had been stashed for more than half her lifetime. But the water heater, the cabinets, the existing half-bath in my driftwood and plastic detritus collected on the beach? one corner, a workbench, tool storage, and paths to all my Well, that is good stuff that has to be saved. No, it is things. I did remember to make the cardboard car cutouts decidedly not junk. with doors open so I can get in and out of either car. I finally decided to rent one of those storage pods. This Ever since I got my M Coupe – my mid-life crisis delayed is the box that is dropped off for a day or two to be stuffed until old age – Maria has allowed me to park my baby in with my collections and then hauled off to be stored for a the garage. Her BMW, and this almost sounds vain (how monthly fee. I most likely will need two of these, maybe many people have his and hers BMWs?), is parked on the three. Before filling the storage pods I will have to decide street. No matter where we are in SoCal, street parking which of the power tools I will need to rebuild shelving, is increasingly impacted by more cars and more people. reattach cabinets, and keep garden stakes sharpened. People, you know what I’m talking about. We famously put Because the garage is too close to the alley under $2000 worth of junk, a polite word, in the garage and park current building setback rules I must submit a more a $20,000 car outside. Some of my junk is in the half of complicated set of paperwork for a permit. There will be the garage where there is no car door. This is kept in a a review by the Planning Commission with a formal public disused darkroom, a vestige from the days when film and hearing. Fair enough. Every neighbor within 300 yards photographic paper were processed by legions of amateurs must be mailed a notice of the time and date of the hearing. like myself. My garage darkroom has become a “throws-it” I have to supply the data for this mailing. I do not harbor room. This is what you do with stuff you don’t yet want to the familiar resentment of gub’ment. I made my way in the discard - you throws-it into an unused room. world working for the government in an elementary school Then there is the complication of moving the electrical classroom for thirty-seven years. This extra step is cut service box where Southern California Edison connects the and dried. power. The power box is spang in the middle of where the There will have to be engineered blueprints, photos of new double garage door will go. The new electrical service the existing building, and elevation drawings of both the old box will go next to the gas meter on an adjacent wall. Behind and new garage door. All of this has to be submitted in the new power box is the interior garage wall where storage required format. cabinets currently block the path of the proposed new By now you understand that I’m not a fast moving kind conduit. These cabinets of Doctor Calgari hold important of guy. It all takes time to get it done right. I live with this stuff like the battery chargers for various tools, collected question: How come there is never enough time to do it family photographs, car detailing supplies, and a plethora of right the first time but there is always enough time to fix it? potions to poisons for the flora and fauna that inhabit the Don’t ask me to throw out all the driftwood. When garden. They will all have to be moved, temporarily. Ah, the creative urge hits me I use the power tools to make where? The rest of the garage is filled with more than four sculptures, assemblages. Same thing for the plastic bits decades of my collection of driftwood and LPs. I’ll explain and pieces. Some people have $2000 worth of junk in their the driftwood later. Maybe never. garage taking up car space. I have beautiful treasures from I did rescue my LPs from their cardboard boxes, putting the shore and LPs that capture a lifetime of music history. them into beautiful plastic boxes from The Container Store, For me, putting a second BMW in the garage becomes a godsend for pathological hoarders. But I’m not severely complicated. Very complicated. n 2 WB.07 2017 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN The second major change adjusts the timetable for elections and the term of office for elected directors. We by Delight Lucas – Past President currently operate a regular calendar year, nominating Proposed Bylaws Amendments for the and electing the Board of Directors in fall to take office in January. This schedule is becoming hard to maintain as the Los Angeles Chapter of the BMW CCA end of the year is a busy time for everyone. The proposed It has been almost 10 years since we last amended the amendments change the elections to late summer with bylaws and times have changed. The Board of Directors the new officers assuming their positions on the first of is proposing several improvements to bring the chapter October. The Board feels that more people will be likely to into the new century and to better serve our members. volunteer to run for office if the timeline is moved away from The biggest change is reconfiguring the board positions. December. Currently we have several positions that are either obsolete Additional amendments to the Bylaws include: or too all-encompassing for a single person to adequately • Providing the Board with clearer guidelines for removing perform. The Board of Directors encourages all chapter officers who don’t perform their duties, or who damage members to review the amendments and use the ballot at the Chapter or the Club. the end of those amendments to vote “Approve”. • Allowing non-physical board meetings (i.e.: phone or web) The major change is the addition of Area Representatives. • Mandating general membership meetings The Los Angeles Chapter covers four full counties and • Clarifying the terms of Board appointed directors portions of another five counties. Rather than break • Cleaning up some language and correcting a few the chapter up, we feel it would be better to have grammatical errors representatives from 6 areas: Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Orange County, Ventura/ The Board urges you to vote. And, assuming the Santa Barbara Counties, and Riverside/San Bernardino amendments pass, we encourage you to consider running Counties. Each Area Rep would be responsible for holding for the Board of Directors, particularly for the new position two events in their area each year.