1983 BMW 320is

Back in 2017, I showed a 1959 4-Cam GT Speedster at the Carmel Concours on the Avenue and won my class. As the event was wrapping up, a passerby remarked, “If I showed a $3 million car every year, I’d win too!” That lit a fire in me—a fire to win with the least expensive car on the Avenue.

Fast forward to April 2018. I was lying in a hospital bed at Duke, receiving my first chemo treatment, scrolling through hot rods on a tablet. On Spuds’ web page, I came across an original owner, 1983 BMW 320is. Memories flooded back of when I was a high school senior, reading an article about these cars and seeing BMW’s ad with one airborne over a rise. I picked up the phone and called. Brian was representing the car for the owner, a flight attendant from Carlsbad, California, who bought it new. The asking price was at least four times higher than I’d ever heard for one, so Brian gave me her number, and I called the owner.

The 320iS was completely original and untouched with 125,000 miles. After a half-hour conversation, I realized I was being interviewed to see if I was good enough to be the next caretaker for “Otto” (the car’s name) as she had just bought a new BMW. I bought Otto sight unseen and shipped it north to Bruce Canepa to prep him for the concours and clean the chassis as only the guys at Canepa could do. Unfortunately, by August, I was in no condition to show anything except that I was breathing, so my dream of showing Otto was put on the back burner.

Otto is quite simply the best 320iS I’ve ever seen! The originality is exceptional—no paintwork, no touch-ups, just mind-boggling for a car with 126,000 miles. The interior is even more remarkable, as Connie, the previous owner, was obviously a petite woman, and the seats and interior show virtually no wear. Everything about this car boggles the mind. How could it remain so exceptionally nice with those miles? Connie explained that her father was German and very particular about his cars. She quoted him as saying, “A dusty car is the sign of a lazy person,” and took it to heart. She always parked Otto in the same spot in the parking deck and put his cover on to keep him safe while traveling.

To say Otto is one of the best, if not the best, 320iS in existence is no exaggeration. Highly documented with his original brochure, bill of sale, and every service record from new with his sole California owner, Otto presents a rare opportunity for a collector.