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Tracking Down a Touring
Paul Huber
Maybe it was all years I spent sitting sideways through the Smokey Mountains in the very back of a Ford Galaxie 500 wagon that caused me fall in love with the notion of an automobile with a tailgate. Or at least a hatchback. And as a lover of 2002s as well, my affliction can be summed up in one word—Touring. But trouble is Tourings are about as common stateside as October Fests in, well, October. Of the 21,752 Touring wagons built between 1971 and 1974, quite a few are still running around Europe, with a fairly sizeable concentration in the Netherlands. So begins this story.
The Netherlands Connection
While working late one night in late January, 2002, I took a break and went onto the bimmers.com site to check out the "For Sale" section. And there she was. A well-maintained, three-quarter-restored 1972 BMW 2000tii Touring in Verona red. It was for sale in the Netherlands for $5,900.00 (US), with an owner who would help arrange shipping to any major port on the planet.
The Touring at its home in The Netherlands. |
The owner, a Mr. Peter de Haan, had assembled a beautiful little website in both English and Nederlands (Dutch) to assist in selling the car—not that one was needed—he told his story: "I've bought this car 22 years ago meant to be a regular car for every day use. For years I've been in love with this model. After owning several "normal" 02's I bought this one finally in 1979. The real version. The 130 Hp. BMW 2000 Tii Touring. Build: 1972. Color: Verona. Condition: very good. Engine 100% (50000mls after rebuild)." Check out home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/p.de.haan/ for Peter's full story.
My first thought was this car had to be long gone (it had been posted for about three days). But just in case it was still available, I needed to do some quick homework. Via Google, I discovered the U.S. Customs Web site, that told me three critical things to know if one is attempting to bring a car into the United States: First, you need to work with an agent certified by the Department of Transportation. Second, the regulations are a lot kinder to vehicles older than 25 years. And third, the bureaucracy might be thicker than straight 70 weight oil. Okay, maybe I could deal with this.
"and the VIN was a real tii at #3422783." |
I came into work early the next morning and called Peter in the Netherlands. His English was a bit limited and my Nederlands was non-existent, so he passed me on to his assistant Erik, who had gone to college in Illinois and was beyond fluent. I was told that several parties (all West Coast people) were interested in the car, but it had not been sold.
So began the clumsy dance. I didn't know them. They didn't know me. How could we get to a place where we could safely trust each other? Erik told me that he had sold a car, a Touring as well, a year earlier to a family in Oregon, and gave me their name as a reference. In the meantime, Erik would figure shipping costs, and email me more photos including the engine; interior and VIN plate (really a tii?). I told Erik I would call him back the following morning, and if the reference checked out and the photos/condition were good, that I wanted to buy the car.
His reference had moved, and after tracking them down through the
Badge of Honor. |
Internet, they informed me that indeed Erik had truthfully and honestly sold them a car, and could certainly be trusted. "But he messed up a bit on the paperwork," they warned me, as they had trouble registering the car. I called Erik back the next day, informed him that his reference was great, to which he commented that he had "messed up their paperwork a little, had learned a lot from that experience, and that mine would be a better one." The jpgs looked incredible, and the VIN was a real tii at #3422783.
I told Erik that I wanted to buy Peter's car. Erik still had a bank account in Illinois, so it was a matter of getting account information in order to wire money in. Erik, per his suggestion, would copy me on all email correspondence to and from his bank. I felt pretty comfortable that I was dealing with honest folks.
Shipping and Handling
Shipping options were from the Netherlands to either Port Hueneme, CA or Tacoma, WA for $700 on a very slow boat (six weeks). Insurance was around $100. Money was wired. Undercarriages were scrubbed down (fear of hoof and mouth coming into the States). The car would soon be leaving the Netherlands on Hualtriton Shipping Line. I had emailed Peter with the "Official Document" (all the facts, VIN, addresses, amounts, dates, etc.) that was to accompany the car. Things were happening.
I had chosen Port Hueneme for the delivery point for the car. It's about an hour north of LA in Ventura County. Now I needed to find a Department of Transportation agent to help with the high-viscosity bureaucracy. I started to call around locally, thinking a local person in the Bay Area might be helpful. Bad idea. One person I spoke with told me that it would cost an additional $7,000 to bring the car in. He sighted the need for reinforced bumpers and doors, seatbelt buzzers, full smog equipment, etc. When I told him that my research didn't jibe with his assessment, he got a bit agitated. Turns out the most recent 2002 he had brought in was in 1986—making that car only about 15 years old at the time. He was right about "then," but not about "now."
Epiphany time. So why not bring Mohamed to the mountain? Why not look in the LA area (fly in/drive home)? Somehow, some way I stumbled onto Claus Graeter of Graycar Consultancy Group. I
The hero of both stories, Claus Graeter. |
happened to call on a Sunday—and he was working. When I told him what I had bought, and asked him what would I have to modify to bring it in, his answer was "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." I relayed my story of reinforced bumpers and seatbelt buzzers, to which he replied in his rich German accent, "Some people just don't know their sheet!" I had found my agent, with the car was scheduled to arrive in about 3 weeks.
Turns out that Claus's office was ten minutes away from the port, in Tarzana, CA (he has since moved his offices inside of Port Hueneme and has also opened a European office), and that he knew everyone from government inspectors to shipping line personnel, including Hualtriton. Claus estimated his fee would be $500, and my experience should be a fairly painless one. And he was right. He kindly and patiently led me through the process of filling out forms, notarizing Power of Attorney documents, shipping currency-like title and registration (which I had received from Peter by registered mail).
Bringing it home
Claus called. The car was in (2 days early), and it was "beautiful." Now it was a matter of making arrangements to pick it up. My plan was to fly to LAX and take a shuttle to Ventura County Airport (a ten-minute flight). To be better prepared for the drive back to San Francisco, I called Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent Service, and ordered all of the essential "emergency parts for the open road" required for a 1972 tii. I packed all these parts, along with a fair number of tools, flashlights, wire (seldom-used exhaust systems are pretty brittle), Chilton's 02 manual, etc., into a duffel bag labeled (to avoid freaking-out airport security) "Tools/Car Parts." I took a 6:30 am flight to LAX, which was late. I barely made the VCA shuttle. My parts/tool bag didn't.
After landing, I learned my bag would arrive in two hours, so I took a cab over to the port. One signature and CADL Xerox later, the keys were mine. I checked all her fluids (I had the cab stop on the way at a 7-11 to buy a quart of oil just in case). She started on the first try. And she was beautiful. I clipped into my well-worn lap belt, showed my drivers license to the guard at the gate, and was on my back to the airport. I stopped on the way to fill her up with her first taste of American gasoline. Mmmmm. 76, with PROpower.
Among the Tourings at 2002 Fest West in 2002. |
The VCA honor-based parking lot (imagine that at SFO) was pretty empty. I spent an hour just looking her over (there are so many elements that are peculiar to a Touring). After picking up my bag, I stopped at a Shell station to buy coolant and brake fluid, and hit 101 North. She was driving beautifully except for two things. Not a lot braking power, with a noticeable metal-to-metal smell on occasion, and at around 55 and faster, there were noticeable "thumpings" from the tires. Eric had pointed out to me that because the car had sat for such a long time, the tires had "flat-spotted" which he had tried to remedy with wheel weights the size of bananas. I found a Big O Tire in Southern Santa Barbara, and bought new Pirelli P-400 Tourings (fitting, huh?). The installer confirmed my feeling about the brake condition, but it looked like I had enough disc, pad, drum and shoe matter to make it home.
An interesting thing happened as I drove. When I had first picked up the car, it had a funny "patina" about it. Not dirt, not oil, but a definite "film" about it (perhaps from sitting in the hull of a ship for six weeks). But as I drove, the "coating" strangely lifted and disappeared. In general, the drive home was a religious experience. 376 miles and no radio was very much about rolling down the window and being in the moment, listening to the car sing and feeling the road.
I took a break to stop off and see Rob and Robynne at 2002 Haus in San Luis Obispo. Rob was kind enough to throw the Touring up on the lift and give it his once over/blessing. Four hours later (at 11:00 pm), I was sitting in my driveway in Glen Park. What a stellar day.
But wait, there's still more…
DMV proved to be more trying than all of the rest of the experience combined. I made an appointment with the "specialist." The visual inspection went fine (comparing various VINs in various places, odometer readings, etc.). The counter was tougher though. There were several DMV forms to fill out before I could see the person who specialized in the fine art of importing cars into California. I had brought along every piece of paperwork that Peter, Erik and Claus had given me, and offered up each piece as requested.
When it came time to see the title and
From the BMW 2000 Touring brochure. |
registration, I was asked if I spoke Nederlands. "No," I replied. "Then how do we know what these are, or say?" I was asked. I pointed out that the words for "title" and "registration" are pretty easy to figure out, plus they look like a title and registration. Not a good answer.
After witnessing 30 minutes of searching through countless volumes of information, I was relayed my fate. "We're going to take all of these documents and send them to Sacramento. If you get a title and registration in the mail, that's a good thing. If you get a letter or phone call, that's a bad thing. Pay at the next window." One month later, I received a title and registration in the mail. Another stellar day, with many to follow.
In hindsight, the only reason that everything fell into place the way it did was because I was dealing with folks with integrity throughout the process. Thanks Peter, Erik and Claus. The three of you have made my daily driving experience a really interesting and unique one. 
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