Alpina C1 2.3
The Blog
When is this gonna stop?
From the title of this post you might think the Alpina has run into a problem. If you did, you’d be wrong. The Alpina, finally, is on a...
GETTING A BIT TOO FAR OVER THE SKIS
I try, sometimes successfully, to have a theme for every post here. The last post, When good enough isn’t good enough, was about...
WHEN GOOD ENOUGH IS NO LONGER GOOD ENOUGH
July, 2024 For a change, a fair amount has happened since the last post about making it to Monterey last August for the Alpina corral...
Do you know the way to …. Monterey?
August 19, 2023 Six months ago in our last episode of this (seemingly) never-ending restoration, an important and emotionally pleasing...
IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!!
The fatigue of this project—and my 1972 Inka touring restomod project—have weighed on me. So much so that the slow but steady progress...
Small but important steps
When I left you, dear reader, on New Years Eve 2021 the sunroof was being put together and I ticked off a list of things that still...
Another (!?!?) New Year
The title for this post was going to be A New Year, given that I sat down to write this on the morning of New Years Eve, 2021. But that...
Little by Little
May 3, 2021 A lot has happened since the last post in early December. At the same time, it feels like the project bounced around with...
Some more progress and, SPOILER ALERT, the motor is in!
A little over a month ago there was the first progress update in two years. Because of the pandemic I had the time to go up to...
Progress, finally…
It’s been over two years since my last blog update and four years to the day (November 1) since I proudly posted on FaceBook that I...
Final Motor Specs
As described in the last post, the motor build is mostly completed. There are a few weird odds-and-ends yet to be done, like a drill...
The Motor, completed. Sort of.
The last post – Death by a thousand delays – ended with more parts missing and some health issues for me, causing another delay. But,...
Death by a thousand delays
It’s been the far side of two-and-half months since the last post and the motor still hasn’t been completed and the body shell hasn’t...
Slowly, the bottom end progresses
With the crank in the block and the pistons and rods assembled, next was putting them into the cylinders. First, rods needed to be...
Tomorrow is today – or, more correctly, tomorrow was about a week ago
Avid readers will remember that the body work was chugging along, accomplishments each week to keep the momentum going, but the...
A New Year
According to Stu, it’s best for the project to keep momentum. So, while there was certainly time to finish the body and paint work...
Frustration and Progress
Almost a month ago, progress was slow but hopeful. The car had been taken to Sacramento and the shell stripped down. Motor parts were...
Two lanes, both slow….
Around a month ago the engine-less shell was loaded on a trailer and taken to the body shop. About the same time I started delivering...
Sleuthing the dash plaque (the mystery and allure of Alpinas)
The first post on this blog, Sleuthing the Car, discussed how I found a genuine Alpina on Bring-a-Trailer and the harsh comments when the seller didn't do the leg-work to...
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program
The motor is out. The rebuild decisions have been made, the path mapped out (mostly, more on that later). It’s time to focus on the...
Decisions, decisions
So, I have an authentic Alpina engine, complete with the stamped-in numbers on both head and block. That engine probably has a blown...
Hands of God
Although the car was authenticated by Alpina, I assumed the worst – that the engine was not an actual Alpina lump. Yeah, the shell was...
What is an Alpina?
October 3, 2017 If you read my first blog entry, Sleuthing the Car (how I found my Alpina), you likely recall the noise about whether the car was “really” an Alpina. That begs...
The Back Story (a couple of A4s)
As a bona fide 2002 nut, I spent too much time dreaming of Alpina-modified 02s, the best being the 2002tii version known as an Alpina...
The current stable
September 23, 2017 The Alpina has a good friend in the garage with it, a Fjord 1974 2002tii. It's my third tii, and my 8th '02 (Agave...
Sluething the car (how I found my Alpina)
I’m a serial renovator – you know the type, I buy run-down houses, live in it for a bit, fixing up a house I couldn't otherwise afford....

























