Hello - New Member '72 3.0 CS Chamonix

[mulberryworks]

I approve of your choice. My 1970 2800CS is also Chamonix over blue, an excellent color combination. Welcome.

 

[coupedegrace]

Lovely story and lovely car - kismet! Welcome to the forum.

-Dan

 

[5280JB]

I remember your car on BaT because of the custom wood trim. Do you know what species the wood is?---Drew

Madera Concepts, who did the custom woodwork back in '96, was kind enough to get back in touch with me regarding the type of wood used on this car's trim (I sent them some pics earlier). It is "Sapele" an African wood similar to Mahogany. Madera added "There are so many different types of Sapele veneer and depending what part of the tree was cut and how it was cut will give you different looks of the grain."

According to Wikipedia:
"It is used in the manufacture of furniture, joinery, veneers, luxury flooring, musical instruments, and boat building. Among its more exotic uses is in musical instruments. It is used for the back and sides (and sometimes top) of acoustic guitar bodies, as well as the bodies of electric guitars. It is also used in manufacturing the neck piece of ukuleles and 26- and 36-string harps."

In this car, it was used on the dash, center console, front and rear door trim, and shift knob. The speaker grille on the dash was removed. When I first got the car home, some friends and I were exploring it and my buddy noticed a weird "bump" on the passenger side lower seat cushion when sitting in it. Turns out a small box style speaker was under the seat, causing the bump feeling! Moved the speaker a bit to the rear and no more lumpy seat. Too funny!

Sample pic of Sapele wood from the interwebs, and a couple of it used in this car's interior:

 

[Wobdog]

Jim
Welcome to the forum. I joined the tribe last year at this time, and being a member of this forum has been such a great experience. So much unselfish help and advice

 

[Krzysztof]

Welcome on the best E9 Forum in the World!

It is really amazing story. It shows how the dreams come true. So positive! Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[Ohmess]

In general, I prefer the wood originally used by BMW, but that sapele is downright gorgeous.

 

[wkohler]

Congrats on finally acquiring that car! It’s beautiful. Excited to see more of it. Welcome!

 

[Drew Gregg]

Mark: That's a great idea! Part of the appeal of the car hobby is the back story of how/why/when cars came into their owner's lives. That would make for a very interesting read!

Mine have been a combination of lengthy, surgical strike searches and plain dumb luck. Always enjoy hearing about other's car history stories.

Jim--We did talk about your car at Hilton Head. I'm also a wood "fan". My Turkis car has the Hawaiian Koa which was installed by the previous owner from whom I bought the car and had it shipped to me from Maui. I then bought curly Koa billets on EBay and had the brake handle made to match the other wood trim. I also have guitars made out of quite a few tone woods such as quilt maple, Koa, Bubinga, Bearclaw spruce, Brazilian rosewood and Brazilian walnut, Honduras mahogany, and curly maple. ----Drew

 

[Stan]

Great story, persistence and "the chase"
Love the color - but I am partial