Thursday 11th July 2007
Left home at 3am for very long drive. Got on my way to collect Dad and in to get KevinB10. We set off for Euro Tunnel at a fairly sedate pace and hooked up with Neil, Andy (D4) and James (ALPB1033) at the Euro Tunnel terminal. After a very smooth and quick Euro Tunnel journey we all set off through France and Belgium with the odd 'p' break at a brisk pace. Some time after our 1st stop, Neil belted off and we saw them again leaving a set of services just as we arrived. James and 'Team Wad' made good time all through Germany until we were about 90 miles away when everything went to crap with roadworks. We eventually made it to Buchloe at just short of 6.30 pm after a good 110 mph 'cruise' for an hour or so.
Having deposited our bags, Dad and I took a wander to the factory to have nose around and had a very pleasant walk back through the town. One thing that struck us was how quiet and clean Buchloe is.
Getting back to the hotel, we met up with everyone and Kris Odwarka from Alpina joined us for dinner. We wound up at around 11.45 pm having seen Neil get more and more red-eyed not helped by copious quantities of JD, along with a comical moment where Kris and the waitress fired Rose Champagne all over ceiling.
Sat Nav set on the drive with the planned distance ahead!
The Motley crew on the Euro Tunnel train
Alpina Blue B6 Coupe OAL - BB 6
Alpina Green B6 Coupe OAL - BB 636
There is the occassional hint that the buildings could be something to do with Alpina
This river runs through Buchloe, note the lack of shopping trollies and general shit!!
Friday 12th July 2007
We all gathered up at the factory at around 9am and were greeted by our host, Kris. I am not going to go into the details and steal Neil's thunder, but it was an excellent and truly interesting tour with highlights of meeting Andy Bovenseipen, pouring over an Alpina Green II B3 Coupe and seeing a few things that we can't mention!
After the tour, we had an excellent lunch at a local Biergarten and the highlight of the day was a spirited drive through the Bavarian countryside to a small village called Auerberg (I think
) where there is a summit with a small church that has a viewng platform. The platform provides the most breathtaking views towards the Alps. We then moved on to the historic and beautiful town of Landsberg am Lech. Landsberg is set on the river Lech wth a stunnng wier and serves some top ice cream!!Having spent a couple of hours in Landsberg with Kris, we shot back to Buchloe where we parted and the poor guy, having looked after us so well all day, he went back to work at 7.30pm on a Friday, bearing in mind his colleagues stopped at 12.15.
How much would these fetch on eBay??
The state of this guy's desk is indicative of how everyone at Alpina works, meticulous and spotless!!
A new Alpina concept vehicle?
A new B5 with the Moss Side alloy wheel option
The trim shop was quite something, you can have just about anything trimmed in leather
Burkard Bovenseipen's other passion is fine wine and this is less than half of the Alpina wine collection.
This one generated a little bit of interest.
Andy Bovenseipen now runs the show and he kindly came to talk to us..
The British Assault
Some felt I wasn't driving fast enough, hence the in tact but very dead bug. I can honestly say that our afternoon's driving was the most fun I have had in a car for a long time.
The various Vistas at Auerberg...
Landsberg is a truly idillic town..
I went back to the factory for a few snaps..
Saturday 14th July
The other guys decided to go the Nurburgring today but 'Team Wad' came home and made good time. We left at 6am, and did the whole journey in 12 hours having completed a total of 1,500 miles and averaged 27.4mpg.
I just want to say a massive thanks to Neil, Andy, Kris Odwarka and Alpina for a fantastic experience, to my co drivers, Kev and Dad and finally to the other attendees for their excellent company.
Buchloe is a pretty quiet place, this picture was taken at 6am but it doesn't get too much busier than this
