Baby with her winter wheels
In the beginning
I had always looked upon 7 Series cars with admiration and a little envy when one would roll past on the street. I recall that I would usually think to myself, �Someday� as it would pass by. This was the case on Saturday Sept. 25, 1999 when my daughter Alexandra and I were enroute to a Ford dealership in in the Philadelphia suburbs to place a deposit on an order for a new Ford Expedition. When the 740iL turned left in front of us as we waited at a traffic signal, I thought to myself, �Someday� and in a flash, it occurred to me that someday had arrived.
I reached for my cell phone and some 15 minutes later we were in a Black/Tan 1997 740iL taking a test drive. What was remarkable was the fact that the saleswoman recalled who I was from inquiries I had made two years before. I had spoken to Janet Barnes of West German BMW when I was looking for a car for my wife back in 1997. When I called West German to ask about a CPO 740iL, it was Janet that said,
"You were looking for a black 740iL a while back, weren't you?"
"As a matter of fact there is a black 740iL here right now, so why not stop by and take it for a test drive"
The rest as they say is history....Janet turned out to be a "Princess" indeed, for when the numbers came back, the CPO 740iL was going to be @ $60.00 less per month than the Expedition, thanks to BMW�s aggressive financing interest rate.
I took delivery of Baby on Tuesday Sept. 28, 1999 and proudly drove her home. She had all of 22,475 miles on the odometer. Later that night, my wife noting my restlessness, had a look of disbelief on her face when I explained that, I could not believe I owned a 7 and that I wanted to sit in the front seat and sleep in the car. Little did we know how this was merely a hint of the madness to come.
The Disease
It was my friend Tony Bonanni who suggested I attend a Driver�s School. So on Memorial Day weekend 2000 there I was with Tony in the passenger seat as my instructor. He was simultaneously holding on and fighting the sway and body roll induced urge to be sick, at a Riesentoter PCA Driver�s School at Pocono Raceway.
First Track Event
To be sure the Porsche Club membership delighted in blowing past us in our stock autobahn cruiser as it rolled into and out of each turn, however the illness I have come to call �Mod Disease� had made its way into my psyche and nothing has been the same since that day. Despite her size Baby demonstrated abilities I had never expected from such a large car.
VAC Motorsports.....
When you are serious!
