derBayerische March/April 2022 - 16

N C C V O L U N T E E R S P O T L I G H T
big win was mentioned in Paul Seto's President's Message in the NovemberDecember
2012 issue.
John Hartge added: " Raine's attention to detail is evident in der Bayerische,
for which he's been production manager for decades. It also led him to
concours trophies with his spotless " Rainetized " vehicles. But his laser focus on
detail could be a bit annoying to a friend, when nearly every time he would pass
one of my cars, he would immediately point to a spec of dirt, a smudge, the
slightest imperfection. Of course, I'd feel obligated to go find a rag. "
Raine's concours standards have an excellent reputation for good reason.
Not only has he won NCC's multi-club Deutsche Marque Concours d'Elegance
more than once, he also detailed Lothar
Schuettler's Pebble-Beach-winning
1937 328. In the March-April 2018
issue of dB, Raine wrote, " Lothar knew
that I liked cars clean, inside and out ...
when he told me about his secret entry
to the Pebble Beach Concours in 2016
and asked me if I would detail his
restored 1937 328 for his entry, I had a
hard time believing it. Of course I
would do it! That was a real honor.
Right after the Pebble Beach Concours
weekend my phone rang on Monday at
8:00 a.m. California time. It was Lothar.
He was elated. I knew right away he
had won something. Best in Class!
Unbelievable! I was very honored to
have gained his trust to work on the
328 and to prepare it for the big show. "
This wouldn't be complete without
a story from one of Raine's great friends,
an excellent storyteller, and a
maker/restorer of BMW history, Lothar
Schuettler. When I spoke with Lothar,
he recalled how he met Raine through
the club, which has turned into a friendship
that has lasted decades. Lothar
said, " The BMW club invited me to give
a speech about the history of BMW.
That's when I met Raine for the first
time, when we talked about the history
of BMW. I could see that Raine was a
very thorough individual and when you
got past his outer shell and gained his
trust, you couldn't ask for a better friend.
When he first brought his 2002
(that he purchased in 2010) to
Excluservice for me to look over, he
proudly presented his new BMW.
I walked around the car and I said to
him " too bad those butchers screwed
up putting that aftermarket sunroof in
there. " It wasn't quite fitting and the
roof was buckled a little bit.
And that hurt him when I said that, but
then he realized that I was right.
16
The next time he came with an electrical problem and I told him to leave
the car with me. Hesitantly he had left it with me for a day or two and when he
came back I had cleaned up the whole engine compartment. I took out all the
wires that didn't belong - I'm a sucker for details. His jaw dropped when he
looked under the hood of his car.
Raine came back and asked " How are we going to get rid of this sunroof?
I talked to some body shops and they said the roof will warp if they try to weld
in a new panel. " I told him the only thing you can do is cut the whole roof off,
throw it away, and put a new roof on. That was like throwing a bucket of cold
water on him and he said " What?!? " It took six months to convince Raine to do
it and I know he wasn't sleeping well
when I started cutting. We welded a new
roof on and it turned out perfectly. After
that there's nothing he wouldn't have
trusted me with. "
As the saying goes, trust is a twoway
street. Lothar also trusts Raine.
Raine recollected, " Besides allowing me
and other members to take out his cars
for test drives, in the 1980s he asked me
to take his M1 home from the German
Embassy Concourse where he had displayed
it, and, if I wouldn't mind, to
bring it back on Monday. Are you kidding?! "
This M1 can be seen on the
cover of the July-August 1988 dB, with
the cover photo taken by the man
himself, Raine Mantysalo.
At the end of our conversation,
Lothar reflected: " You're lucky in your
lifetime to have four or five friends.
I count Raine as one of my friends. And
I think he feels the same way about me. "
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing
■ (From the Top) Raine, Lothar, Gordon and Woody at the surprise
fairwell party given for Raine at Lothar's. With Woody by Lothar's 328
that Raine had detailed for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in
2016. Photos by John Hartge and Al Zavala.
this piece and, in the process, learning
more of our club's history by reading
past issues of our beloved chapter magazine,
der Bayerische, and by reaching
out to club members who took part in
making NCC and BMW CCA what it is
today. Thanks to Woody Hair, John
Hartge, Cory Laws, and Lothar
Schuettler for sharing your stories. I've
realized that while everyone in the club
enjoys the BMW brand and its vehicles,
what the club really does well is facilitate
the building of lasting friendships,
which is seen through the stories
included here. It has been a pleasure
spotlighting Raine Mantysalo, who has
been involved in so
many aspects of our
club for so long, playing
a vital role in making
NCC what it is today.
Cheers, Raine!
derBayerische
https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2012/2012_1112.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2012/2012_1112.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2018/2018_0304.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2018/2018_0304.pdf https://db.nccbmwcca.org/1988/1988_0708.pdf
derBayerische March/April 2022

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