History Comes Alive at the Lime Rock Historics

For many car enthusiasts that live within driving distance of the northwest corner of Connecticut, the Lime Rock Historics has become an annual Labor Day Weekend event that can’t be missed. The Historics is a real celebration of the automobile that leans heavily toward European classics and sports cars, so naturally BMW always has a big presence there.

This year marked the 44th year of the Historics, and the event takes up four days, with Friday, Saturday, and Monday devoted to vintage racing and Sunday set aside for a car show and judged concours. There were dozens of BMWs present on Sunday, which includes a “Gathering of the Marques,” where the different brands are grouped together. BMW models at the show spanned 90 years and included models from nearly ever decade since then, but some stood out for their rarity and importance in the history of BMW.

Simple but beautiful cockpit of the 319.

The oldest BMW at Lime Rock was the 1935 Frazer-Nash BMW 319 owned by Santo Spadaro. The 319 is a predecessor to the famed 328, and British manufacturer AFN (Archibald Frazer-Nash) had a deal with BMW to import cars into Britain starting in late 1934. Spadaro’s 319 Sport is the first of just 26 built. Interestingly, it served as a demonstrator and was also shown at the London Motor Show. It ended up racing as well, with its most significant contest at the 1936 Light Car Club Relay Race where it was driven by an all-female team.

Jeff McAllister lives nearby and brought his beautiful 1957 507. The 507 is considered one of the most beautiful BMWs ever, though it did nearly bankrupt the company. The 507 was designed and built to compete with the Mercedes 300SL, but ended up costing twice as much. BMW only 252 from 1956 to 1959. McAllister’s is one of only around 40 Series 1 cars built before updated Series 2 models appeared in early 1957. He has owned the car since 1977 when he bought it from his grandfather, so it’s been in the family for a long time. McAllister also owned and vintage-raced a 328 roadster that had a Le Mans racing history for many years.

Jeff McAllister’s 507 has been in the same family for decades.

The “Neue Klasse” sedans helped bring BMW back from the verge of bankruptcy, with practical and well-built sedans that also had a sporting flair. Blair Birondes 1966 2000 is a great example. Birondes is only the third owner of this car, which was ordered new by a U.S. service member stationed in Germany. The original owner kept it for many years and put around 240,000 miles on the car until he passed away in 1990. The car has since undergone a mechanical restoration and was converted from an automatic to a manual transmission. Amazingly, the paint on the roof and the trunk is believed to be original. “It’s a good driving car,” said Birondes. “We drove it all the way back here from North Carolina after attending The Vintage. It could use a fifth gear!”

Blair Birondes’ 1966 2000.

BMW also started racing the Neue Klasse cars. The 1800 TI/SA was built in 1965 to qualify the 1800 TI for touring car racing. Dirk deGroen brought his example, which is one of only 200 built. His car is chassis #193 and was delivered new to Portland, Oregon, where it competed in SCCA Pacific Northwest Region gymkhana and slalom events for two seasons before suffering a gearbox failure. It then passed through several owners over the next four decades, until deGroen acquired it in 2025. The 1800 TI/SA is powered by a high-compression 1.8-liter M10 four-cylinder with dual Weber carburetors and makes around 130hp. It also has a Getrag five-speed, upgraded suspension and larger disc brakes.

The 1800 TI/SA owned by Dirk deGroen.

The 1800 sedan led to the legendary 2002, which really established BMW in the U.S. and led to the creation of the BMW CCA. There were several 2002’s at Lime Rock for the car show, and Stuart Hornick’s 1969 2002 was one of the earliest. Originally a California car, Hornick bought it off Bring a Trailer. The car was very original but just worn out, so Hornick had the engine rebuilt and had Sportscar Restoration in Plainville, Connecticut install upgraded safety features, such as a third brake light and three-point seat belts. “I grew up in that era, and when I was in college there was one parked on the street that was used as a daily driver,” says Hornick. “I passed it every day walking to class, and I always thought that one day I’ll get one of those.”

Stuart Hornick’s 1969 2002.

The 1800 and 2002 models got BMW into racing again, but it was the 3.0 CSL that really brought BMW back to racing on the international stage, including in the U.S. with entry into the IMSA series with a factory team. The 3.0 CSL road car was built to homologate the race car, and featured thinner steel, aluminum doors, hood and trunk lid, and plexiglass windows. It also had the famous aero additions such as the rear wing that gave it the nickname “Batmobile” and fender flares. David DeLuca’s 1974 3.0 CSL is a beautiful example of this model and was one of the last CSL road cars produced.

David DeLuca’s resplendent 3.0 CSL.

Tim Parker was also at Lime Rock with his Calder 3.0 CSL Art Car homage, which has recently undergone an engine replacement. Parker’s car (which was featured in a previous issue of Roundel) initially had an M30 four-cylinder engine in it with a turbocharger, but he had it converted to an S54 inline-six this year. “We took the engine, transmission and ECU from a wrecked E46 M3 Convertible,” said Parker. “The car also has custom headers and a custom cooling system. It’s so much more refined and reliable now.” Parker drives this car and drove it to Lime Rock from his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This car will be shown at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this year.

Tim Parker’s Calder Art Car Homage has an S54 engine under the hood.

The car show is just one part of the weekend, with the other three days full of vintage racing. There were a few hundred race cars at the track for the event spread among nine groups, with cars ranging from the 1930s through the 2000s. There were three 2002s in the group for sedans under 2.5-liters. Dave Nicholas won an IMSA championship in 1973 driving a 2002 and was there racing a similar ’73 2002, joined by John Wood in his 1972 2002tii and Tim Cashman in a 1970 2002. Nicholas finished in the top 10 in race two and three, and in sixth in race four.

There were also seven BMWs in the Historic World Challenge class, with a pair of E30 M3s from Stephen Lebrun and Krisjan Berzins, along with five E46 M3’s. Luiz Serva and Leo Zick were on the Group 8 podium in race one in E46 M3s. Serva was also on the podium in race three, while Zick was in a solid fifth. Both were setting lap times in the 56-58 second range.

This is one event well worth putting on your automotive to-do list. It’s a beautiful location, the track is short so it’s easy to move around and go to different viewing spots for the racing, and the car show brings in historic and museum quality cars that span the entire history of the automobile.