Rudy

I don't think the loss of the Belle Isle race was Detroit's fault. I think it had more to do with the demise of CART...

ImolaRedM

I had two E28's but that was years ago. They're great cars and I even owe my life to one. I have always had a soft spot for the big sixes.

Gtuni

Rudy - Your probably right. I don't know much about cart racing other than I had a friend in Virginia that used to race them. What do you suppose is causing the demise of cart racing? Do you think it's motocross. I see a lot of kids are getting into motocross and the extreme motocross. Maybe that's what the carts need...extreme cart stunts? Like jumping motocross bikes. ; )

ImolaRedM - The more I tinker with this car the more I like it. I've always been told that the slant 6's were bad engines...maybe that's just American slants (maybe wishful thinking). I had a ford pickup with the 4.9 (300ci) I-6. That was one powerful engine. I loved it. Since then I've always like the I-6's.

Rudy

I think you're confusing CART with go-karts. CART is (was) an acronym for "Championship Auto Racing Teams" and at one time was the premier open-wheel racing series in the US and Canada. They were the cars that raced at the Indy 500 and other venues around the globe. (They were just a notch below Formula 1 in most people's eyes.) The drivers were people with names like Andretti, Unser, Foyt, Rahal, Mears, Vasser, Zanardi, Montoya, Fittipaldi, Tracy, Franchitti, Sullivan, Johncock, Sneva, etc.

Years ago, a rival series began (long story) which pretty much split open-wheel racing into two factions, CART and the Indy Racing League (IRL). Nowadays, CART is known as "Champ Car" and it is still alive (along with the IRL) but neither is as popular as CART once was. Here is a link to the Champ Car World Series website and here is a link to the Indy Racing League website.

When CART raced at Belle Isle, it was sort of a "home" race because at the time, CART's headquarters were in Detroit. Also, Ford and Chevy used to supply engines (along with others like Honda and Toyota) so it was a home race for them too.

Gtuni

Yeup...badly confused hey.

When did they stop racing on Belle Isle?...it must have been before I moved here in Feb. 2000.

Rudy

They last raced there on June 17, 2001 so you lived there for two races...

Here's a link to some photos of the last event there:
http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Event/E...s.asp?EventID=7

And here's a link to the final results of the race:
http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results...ults.asp?ID=225

Gtuni

Honda, Toyota & Ford. That's pretty interesting, No other engine manufacturers.

Rudy

There were other manufacturers over the years. Chevy was there for a time, Ford was actually badged a Cosworth, etc. If you go back many, many, years, there were all sorts of engines...

Here's a link I found that explains some of the history behind the Detroit Grand Prix:
http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/MI/Detroit.html

Gtuni

GPS - I finally got a pick of my 535i.


I had it in the shop for about a week to get it road worthy and I've been driving it for about two weeks now.

Click for pic

If anybody knows about these "older" models, I could use some advice.

When I take off in 1st gear the car shudders. Also when I shift to 2nd it shudders, but not in the higher gears. once in awhile I'll also get a clunk that sounds like it's coming from anywhere between the front seats to the rear. I'm thinking the cv joint or u-joint. If anybody has some ideas, I wuld really appreciate it.

BERM

Gtuni nice picture. There is this other massage board called bimmerforums and you can find much more info on older models from the other owners.


http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/