derBayerische March/April 2022 - 14

N C C V O L U N T E E R S P O T L I G H T
■ (Above from Left) In preparation for its entire roof replacement, Lothar strips the 2002 by removing all the glass. The M1 Lothar trusted to Raine for an entire
weekend after the car had participated in the German Embassy Deutsche Marque Concours event. Photo by John Hartge.
David, sold it, bought it back again, and then
restored it. Clay still owns this car today. While
watching the Traditions articles come together
via international email exchanges in 2020, I was
able to meet Clay and see this car in person
when taking photos for the final article, which
allowed this particular story to become all the
more " real " for me. A story over 30 years in the
making, made possible by the relationships
forged in our chapter.
Woody Hair, winner of the 2020 BMW
CCA's " Friend of the Club " award, shared this
story about Raine: " A Gaithersburg shop
arranged the use of a Potomac, MD farm that
was to become a housing development. He provided
an old E21 320i (modified with a welded
rear axle), laid out a course through the fields, and about 30 of us had time
trials. Calling on his Finnish heritage, Raine took FTD. (An old dB may have a
cover photo from one of these events). " Sure enough, this was covered in the
January-February 1990 issue and that 320i can be seen on the cover. Raine
added that he rolled the E21 during one of the time trials runs while trying to
achieve that FTD - that's some dedication!
Cory Laws, a former NCC President and former Editor of dB, happens to
live down the street from me (small world). I reached out to Cory and he told
■ Some of the tools of the trade when der Bayerische
was put together in the 1980s before desktop publishing.
me a story involving Raine and the first E28 M5
in the US - a story I've also heard from Lothar
Schuettler. Cory wrote about this in the MarchApril
2018 issue of dB as part of a Traditions
piece by Marc Caden: " Lothar imported what
was apparently the first M5 (E28) produced. At
the time, I was editor of the dB, and had a bit of
a reputation behind the wheel of my 5 Series. In
anticipation of the treat, I prepped with a little
spirited driving earlier in the day, and on the way
to Excluservice. Raine Mantysalo was my copilot
and photographer. Due to a previous test
drive foible in another car that resulted in a bent
flywheel, I was given a rather harsh warning:
'If you wreck it, don't come back. Just shoot
yourself, then leave the country.' It's amazing
how much detail I remember, 30 years later. "
Based on this experience, Raine designed and professionally printed a
large banner for Lothar that has a photo of the M5 along with the quote " If you
wreck it, don't come back. Just shoot yourself, then leave the country. "
The banner still hangs in Lothar's workshop.
The first time I told Raine that Cory and I were neighbors, he said " When
you see him, ask him about our drive back from the 1985 Richmond Concours,
he in his 530i and me in my Weberized 320 and about a certain Mustang 5.0. "
■ A banner in Lothar's garage workshop is a reminder of the first E28 M5 test drive. Lothar's exact instructions are still fresh in Cory Laws' memory.
" If you wreck it, don't come back.
Just shoot yourself or leave the country. "
- Lothar Schuettler while handing over the keys to his new BMW M5 to Cory Laws and Raine Mantysalo.
September/October 1985 der Bayerische.
Thank you for sharing so many of your
special cars over the years.
NCC BMW Car Club of America
December 4, 2012
14
derBayerische

https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2018/2018_0304.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2018/2018_0304.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/1990/1990_0102.pdf

derBayerische March/April 2022

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