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View Full Version : Hello again... I'd like to share my second ZHP story... reintroducing Scarlett



Wisco
07-22-2017, 06:23 PM
Hello all,

Most of you are aware that @NoVAphotog announced that he was selling his 2005 Imola/Black ZHP Sedan aka Scarlett;

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?13565-The-Scarlett-Thread-Daniel-NoVAphotog-s-Project-and-Maintenance-Thread

I'm proud to say that NoVA and I came to a fair agreement on this very special car and my journey with her started late Friday when we finally met in person in Reston, VA. We have a 2006 Imola/Sand Beige convertible ZHP and now we'll have a "his and hers" Imola ZHPs in the garage.

Instead of shipping, I decided to drive Scarlett the almost 1000 miles back to our home in Wisconsin. I have never take a true road trip with any of our three kids, so I convinced the youngest son to accompany me on the journey. We flew into DCA on a one-way tickets (burn the ships strategy) and spent the day Friday sightseeing around the Washington Mall. After a long day of playing tourists, we took the Metro out to Virginia to meet NoVA.

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To me buying a used car is about buying the seller not the vehicle. Sure the vehicle needs to check out, but you're really buying how the previous owner took car of the car and also their passion. As almost everyone here knows, NoVA exemplifies the best of the best of this forum and Scarlett is proof of that fact.

We left NoVA and went to visit some old friend on NW DC. Drove back to our hotel in Alexandria to sleep and woke up this morning to begin the long ride home. Bags into the back along with some goodies NoVa was willing to part with (original silver grills, a spare mirror glass, rubber winter mats and a few more bit plus a coveted Bentley Manual that will facilitate my journey into DIY)

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Our plan was to drive up on Interstate 70 through Maryland west towards West Virginia. The countryside in this part of the country is stunning as you cross the Appalachians Mountains. But first a stop for some breakfast at someplace we don't have "Up North".

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As we left the dark clouds were rolling in and we spent the next hour plus driving in the mild to all out pouring rain. The car handled great up and down the hills and we finally crossed over into West Virginia. A quick stop in Morgantown to tank up some 93 Octane fuel and grab a few snacks.

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I decided to add some fun to the trip by taking the scenic route driving US Hwy 50 west across West Virginia. Unfortunately we were so enamoured of the scenic beauty that I didn't stop to take any photos until we hit the Ohio River.

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We hit a second batch of pouring rain once in Ohio that go so bad that I finally pulled off the road for a few minutes. Zero visibility and lots of trucks is not a game I'm willing to play.

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We picked up the pace through Athens, OH on the way to Columbus, OH where we caught Interstate 70. My parents used to live in Dayton, OH so we had to stop at the world famous Youngs Dairy Farm outside Yellow Springs, OH. Lots of memories there from taking the kids to visit my parents before they retired and moved to Florida.

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Into Indiana and we're almost to our planned overnight, but alas my plan to last minute book something on my phone wasn't going to work as even my Hilton status couldn't get us a room in Indianapolis. So we drove a bit further to Lafayette, IN after over 650 miles in 12 hours, including stops. Holy hell. At the same time, other than a bit sore back I feel great and the little man was a real trooper. The car performed flawlessly and except for some rain residue, she still looks amazing. A quick dinner and it's time to rest.

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More tomorrow on the final miles home.

anandoc
07-22-2017, 06:33 PM
Welcome to the forum, 'Wisco'. Look forward to your project/maintenance thread.

Oh and welcome back 'Scarlett'!

fredo
07-22-2017, 07:30 PM
Well done, sir ! In for details for the second (and last) day of your trip.

slater
07-22-2017, 07:54 PM
Congrats, you got a great car! Have a safe rest of your journey.


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dlucas589
07-22-2017, 09:11 PM
Congrats on your 2nd Imola! Wisco Red ftw. Looks beautiful:drool
Hope to see it around Madison sometime..

BMWCurves
07-22-2017, 11:13 PM
Congrats on the purchase and hope you make the rest of the trip home safely!

ZHPizza
07-23-2017, 12:39 AM
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing the journey with us. Safe travels the rest of the way!

Wisco
07-23-2017, 03:34 AM
Congrats on your 2nd Imola! Wisco Red ftw. Looks beautiful:drool
Hope to see it around Madison sometime..

Cars and Coffee in Lake Mills in August might be a chance to meet up. I took the 'Vert this month but will take Scarlett if I can make it in August


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san
07-23-2017, 06:45 AM
Awesome! You got a fantastic car


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Skelkar116
07-23-2017, 08:07 AM
Congratulations, Wisco!

I see you passed through my state. Unfortunately not close to my home but next time we will make plans to say hello.
At least have some dosa and assortments to replenish you and your passengers!

-Shiv

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Johnmadd
07-23-2017, 08:11 AM
You got an awesome car. Safe travels.

danewilson77
07-23-2017, 08:47 AM
Thanks for sharing and congratulations.

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WOLFN8TR
07-23-2017, 09:01 AM
Awesome and welcome Wisco! That's exactly how I sold my ZHP to Adam, he flew in and drove it home.

Wisco
07-23-2017, 01:44 PM
Day 2 started a bit later than day 1 as we were both tired from the long day yesterday. Big youth baseball tournament in town, so packed hotel.
Scarlett was "protected" by these two cyborgs overnight in the parking lot.

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We packed up and rolled out of Lafayette, IN and headed north towards Chicago. Northern Indiana is pretty boring except for a few windmill farms. It also is the land of "the speed limit is 90 mph Chicago-land drivers". More about that later. I kept the cruise control pegged at 70-75 mph and stayed in the right lane. My son was clearly still not recovered from the 12 day in the car yesterday, so he napped while I drove.

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You hit I-90 in gary, IN and soon are at the state line... our 6th state line on this journey, not counting in and out of DC from Virginia

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The traffic was finally getting congested in places and the pavement went from decent to construction zone ugly. I kept moving around to find the smooth line and was able to zip into open spaces with ease. ZHP steering and NoVA's Bilstein/PSS suspension performed like the baby M3 that this car feels like. We were finally getting hungry so we pulled into the Hinsdale Oasis on I-294 for some food. I'll never get over how pretty this car is from any angle.

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We also grabbed a box of the quintessential south side of Chicago bakery treats... my roommate at the University of Illinois brought these from his Polish grandmother who lived in Cicero and these were pretty damn close.:drool.

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We considered stopping for pizza, but thought it best to make the run for home.

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I-294 continues to wind through the Western Suburbs of Chicago until you get close to O'Hare Airport and then it's time to get onto I-90 for the run to Wisconsin.

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The Illinois Tollway is a pristine road after recent completion of a 10-year rebuild. 3-4 lanes wide, flat, straight, limited access tollway... with the sunshine and limited traffic is was like the German Autobahn. Indeed we watched an Audi RS6 and MB C63 play at 90-100mph. The guy driving the Audi was old enough to be my father and was hooning his ride across the lanes of traffic. We stayed close enough to watch the fun, but did not participate in the open road shenanigans. It all slowed to our one and only traffic jam just in side Wisconsin.

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Finally we approached the exit to Madison and in another 20 minutes we were home. Scarlett got parked outside until I can clean out the garage a bit to park her inside. Bottom line: If you have the opportunity to do a road trip to pick up a car... DO IT. Good time and memories for me and our youngest son.

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3ZHPGUY
07-23-2017, 02:19 PM
Congrats! It's always nice to see the passion transferred and continued on the ZHPs.


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fredo
07-23-2017, 03:27 PM
Glad to see u arrived home safely. Why is the e90 missing the rear plate ? :ninja

Wisco
07-23-2017, 04:44 PM
Glad to see u arrived home safely. Why is the e90 missing the rear plate ? :ninja

His and hers are both home, along with my bike.

Hmmm, now Scarlett is missing a rear plate. Crazy BMW kids....

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170724/6a8eeb70be91f6e842c001b8592a24cd.jpg


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johnrando
07-24-2017, 06:30 AM
Welcome! What a trip (love waffle house). Glad you got such a beautiful car, enjoy it! Great intro.

dlucas589
07-24-2017, 12:25 PM
Cars and Coffee in Lake Mills in August might be a chance to meet up. I took the 'Vert this month but will take Scarlett if I can make it in August


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Would love to meet up - is that thru BMWCCA? Let me know the date/time

Wisco
07-24-2017, 12:45 PM
Would love to meet up - is that thru BMWCCA? Let me know the date/time

Nope. It's organized by a collector car shop in Lake Mills, about half way between Madison and the west Suburbs of Milwaukee.

http://www.carsandcoffeelm.com/under-construction/

From the bare bones website (much more active on Facebook = Lake Mills Cars and Coffee), the next date is August 6. Come early as it seems pretty popular as they began promoting on social media. Last time I ended up in the "poor guys" section with a bunch of M3 so the Lambos and vintage Ferrari and Porsche guys could be up front:rofl

The next Badger Bimmers (BMWCCA) event I'll likely attend is the Champagne Picnic in Ft. Atkinson in September.

Drop me a PM if you want to chat more before this thread goes completely off the rails.

ELCID86
07-24-2017, 03:11 PM
Awesome journey. I'm glad you brought the young navigator with you. I know this car well and You got a. I've 'un.

#wafflehouseftw


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

zhpnsnv
07-24-2017, 03:20 PM
This is AWESOME! Congrats!


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Wisco
07-24-2017, 03:44 PM
Awesome journey. I'm glad you brought the young navigator with you. I know this car well and You got a. I've 'un.

#wafflehouseftw


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

Thanks. What I really need is to find you and others like you who could help me learn more about DIY, have some big boy tools I don't and would be patient enough to help me perform some of the work DIY.

I'm still searching for a similar situation like you and others had with NoVA.

ELCID86
07-24-2017, 04:28 PM
That's a good way to do it. BCS_ZHP (Bruce) was a good tutor for many of us. Then there is the forum and YouTube...!

Vas
07-24-2017, 05:31 PM
That's a good way to do it. BCS_ZHP (Bruce) was a good tutor for many of us. Then there is the forum and YouTube...!And me lol jk

Plenty of good memories working on this car with you and Daniel.

He just had to sell it somewhere far. Maybe we will see it at the reunion

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Wisco
07-24-2017, 05:55 PM
And me lol jk

Plenty of good memories working on this car with you and Daniel.

He just had to sell it somewhere far. Maybe we will see it at the reunion

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Considering I drove Scarlett nearly 1000 miles home, I'd be up for a return trip to your neck of the woods for a reunion.:headbang

RBW
07-25-2017, 03:23 AM
Great story! You travel well!

NoVAphotog
07-25-2017, 06:16 AM
Hey, that car looks familiar...

So great to meet you both! And very happy you guys made it home it safe and sound (and she is tucked in with a fellow Imola)! Definitely have many folks here with open door...well...inbox/phone policies if you have any questions or need advice.