I got a phone call from a good friend of mine.
Who said he.
Had a friend who had a BMW.
Race car in Philadelphia.
And would I be. Willing to. Go and.
Look it over for him next time I'm on the East Coast?
Over the years, over the last sort of a 40 year period, it was considered that the.
Olympic rally.
Car was. Missing and never been found.
Well, being a BMW Motorsport.
Guy, of course I couldn't resist the intrigue of something.
That people didn't know about.
And the rally car. Is.
One of the.
Earliest CSLs Made by BMW.
Basically.
The lightweight. Version of the. E9.
This particular car was actually.
The third one made by BMW and it was the only. CSL.
Rally car BMW ever made.
It rallied four. Times for.
BMW in 19. 72.
But it's known.
As the for one of its particular races it did which was the Olympic.
Rally.
In 1972 basically after finishing the four rallies for.
BMW the Werks team it.
Was then sold to a team called koepchen koepchen used to.
car in. To.
Nurburgring. Races in 1973.
And then.
Basically after that history the car went missing
and I traveled to Philadelphia.
I met the owner of the car, I.
Looked at. The car.
The car was in a.
Really dark garage.
With some other really interesting cars.
But all in a pretty bad way. It was red.
It looked really, really rough and it had the number.
2211342, which obviously to me
being an early CSL number was extremely interesting.
I contacted two people I really trust to historians on CSL race
cars, one English and one Swedish and said, What do you think about this?
They both said, exactly the same as my initial reaction,
which was it's an early car.
But I don't know Pete.
and then about.
Literally less than a week, about six days later.
I got a call.
And it was.
Like, Damn Pete, you found the Olympic Rally Car.
Over a time.
I then.
Contacted the guy in Virginia
and said, Is this guy ever going to want to sell this. Car?
And he said. I think one day Pete.
And so every time I went to the East Coast, I went and visited.
Him and.
Talked to. Him and.
After three years of wining.
And dining him, I kind of whored Myself.
Enough. And I was done.
And I said, Frank, are you going to sell me this damn car?
And he said, Yes.
I just wish I'd have asked two years earlier.
And I bought the car from him.
I had the car.
Shipped from Philadelphia to here.
And if you rub down the red pine, it should be blue in the middle.
Why at the bottom?
Why the top?
And underneath that it should be orange.
Colorado orange.
Which is how it left the factory.
And I rubbed and the hood.
The roof, the trunk. And a door.
And there it was underneath the red with some brown.
And then underneath that was the blue and white.
As you see today.
And under that. Was the. Colorado orange.
It was like my discovery of Tutankhamun.
I mean, I'm a car guy and as a car guy.
All of us want to discover something that the rest of.
The world didn't know about.
Or was missing. Forever.
And you're that guy.
And for it to be.
BMW, BMW. Motorsport And the only one.
I mean, it was something that.
Probably never.
Happened to me again.
In my life.
Every couple of.
Years ago around.
Germany and meet with all the old mechanics and people involved in it.
And Klaus Kutcher. He.
Used to. Run the.
Basically the classic restoration department.
And I said. Oh, by the way.
Klaus, I found.
The Olympic.
Rally, CSL, and without missing a.
Beat, I mean, he didn't even. Did.
It wasn't a second
he went "Damn!" He said, "We knew it was red we knew it was in America.
But we. Could never find it."
I traveled to Philadelphia.
I met the owner of the car.
I looked at the car.
The car was in a.
Really dark garage.
With some other really interesting cars.
All in a pretty bad way.
Almost like.
You know, the owner had a lot of money.
Years ago, but let the cars go. It was red.
It looked really, really rough.
It had. Holes drilled through the dash.
And it had the.
Number 2211342, which obviously to me,
being an early serial number was extremely interesting.
I looked around the. Car with the guy.
I left. Him.
I said, the only thing.
I can gather. Is it's an early. Car
then I.
Contacted two people I really trust two historians on CSL,
rice cars, one English and one Swedish, and said.
What do you think about this?
They both said exactly the same as my initial reaction,
which was It's an early car.
But I don't know right.
And then about.
Literally less than a week, about six days later.
I got a call. And it was like.
Damn, you found the Olympic relic.
So. I. Contacted the owner.
Of the car. And said.
I think it might be the Olympic railway car.
And if you rub them the red pine, it should be
blue in the middle.
Why at the bottom? Why at the top?
And underneath that it should be Orange, Colorado, orange.
Which is how it left the factory.
Basically, the rally department.
Would have taken it off the production line, just painted.
It blue and. White as rice seems. To.
And that's what it should be.
And the gentleman said.
Now I'm not willing to drop the paint.
Then man, this was paint.
It looked like it had been painted.
From three stories like. You.
A bucket of paint had been thrown over it.
So I never understood why.
He wouldn't over. The. Time.
I then.
Contacted the guy in Virginia
and said, Is this guy ever going to want to sell this. Car?
And he said, I think one day paint.
And so I felt as if I'd given him all the information then and I wasn't really.
Going to go any further.
And so every time I went to the East Coast, I went and visited.
Him and. Talked to. Him.
And after three years of wining.
And dining him.
I was sitting in a one of the best restaurants in Philadelphia.
And realized. That.
I kind of hold. Myself. Enough.
And I was done and I said.
Frank, are you going to show me this damn car?
And he said, Yes, I just wish I would have asked two years earlier.
And did that
I bought the car from him.
I had the.
Car shipped from Philadelphia to here.
I had a friend with. Me, a good friend who.
Used to help. Me out and that and Paul.
We went and got some.
Sandpaper or emery cloth and I wrapped and the hood,
the roof, the trunk and a door.
And there it.
Was underneath the red with some. Brown.
And then underneath that was the blue and.
White, as you see today.
And under.
That was the.
Colorado orange I mean, it. Was. I don't.
Say I mean, which was it took literally 10 minutes.
So it was fantastic.
It proved all the points.
But when I sent the culture, Europe should be restored.
Reason being is, first off, it's a one off car.
Secondly, there.
Really is nobody in the U.S.
who would have known what it was done.
So I had someone who is a.
You know, world.
Renowned specialist on seashells.
So I didn't educate calling him or to restore it,
didn't have to keep calling him.
So I had it restored in Europe.
And when the car.
Was taken apart,
there was just all the evidence you'd ever want to see that's behind this, right?
Like here.
There's a hose all. Behind it.
And there was evidence of some kind of tubing.
Going through the. Car to the. Back.
So we presume then all this collar.
I you know, over the.
Years I've built relationships with it.
BMW mechanics and. People from that period.
And they I you know, I've been able to confirm that that.
Actually was an oil dish cola that was sitting there, but it wasn't with.
The car anymore. The
after in the
march of the year, I brought it here after doing that.
I was in.
Munich in the May of that year in a car with BMW.
Classic.
People with three other people in the car.
And mentioned to the driver.
Who I knew really well.
It was a. Very.
Important person with BMW classic.
The oh, by. The way, I found the.
Olympic rally car and without.
Missing. A beat.
He said, damn.
He said, we knew it was in America.
We. Knew it was red, but we could never.
Find it.
They I then discovered that actually.
The guy who owned the car taken at.
Once in 25 years and it was in 1992.
For. The 20 year celebration of.
BMW. Motorsport.
And basically.
Somehow. BMW. Had just seen pictures.
Or got. Information and said I knew it.
Was the Olympic replica.
But it's been interesting since because I, I've taken it to a few.
Shows. Or it's been in shows.
And I cannot count how many BMW people.
Have told. Me BMW. Collects supposedly.
You know. It's certainly into the hobby
of said.
Oh. My God, I saw that. Car in a garage.
In Philadelphia.
And I've, you know.
Been able to say Yeah, but you didn't know what it was the job.
So it done that, but it.
Looked ugly in the garage in Philadelphia to the house, drilled in the trash,
were just.
Rudimentary drilled.
I mean there was no there was no finish to it.
But Peter.
High, who was the electrician for motorsport when it started,
Peter Harsh as confirmed, he said to me, Pete, I drove them house.
You know.
It's it was just what race changed.
It they needed.
Support in the true how the gauges for.
Rallying.
So I just drilled two house.
I got a phone call from a good friend of mine.
Who said he.
Had a friend who had a BMW.
Race car in Philadelphia.
And would I be.
Willing to go and look it over for him next time I'm on the East Coast
over the years, over the last sort of a four.
Year period.
It was considered that the. Olympic rally.
Car was missing. And never been found.
Well, be in a BMW.
Motorsport I of course I couldn't resist the intrigue of something that.
People didn't know about.
And the rally car. Is.
One of. The earliest sales.
Made by. BMW.
Basically the lightweight. Version of the.
A9, which is the.
Body shape most of your night is to see us or CSI.
This particular car was actually.
The third one made by BMW and it was the.
Only CSL.
Rally car BMW ever made.
I might just the one.
It. Was it rallied four times for.
BMW in.
1972 but it's. Known.
As the first one of its particular race which was the Olympic.
Rally.
In 1972 which was 3370. One.
Kilometers around Germany over five days
basically after finishing the four rallies for.
BMW to.
Work same was then sold to a team called Cop Chin.
Cop Chin used to call in to.
Nurburgring. Races in 1973.
And named basically. After that history.
The car went missing.