With all of the past discussions the group has had about the legitimacy of Campy brake hood duplication/copying in the face of the Vincenza decision to cease replacement production of admittedly small parts, I thought it would be interesting to share some things from our automotive brethren and how things are over on that side.
The Nov 21 Autoweek has a short piece on BMW Mobil Tradition, the officially blessed caretakers of the marque, in Munich. They are holding a kind of living exhibit in their temporary museum facility. Here, one can observe two craftsmen build a 1973 tii from the tires on up. What is used for this is Mobil Tradition's catalog of original parts! As Autoweek opined, "Part publicity stunt, part marque preservation, the effort demonstrates you can order practically any part for your project Bimmer-- nearly 90 percent of all 2002 (the car, produced in 1971-1974, not the year for you bike guys) parts are available." The car will be part of a spring charity auction.
This means that home shop BMW hobbyists could actually build a basement car! Not too practical at around $97,000, but it could be done. Oh well, what do some of our projects say about practicality. We're really about passions and nostalgia after all.
Also, while I'm at it, let's talk tires. Just a couple of days ago, those white Michelins on the Taylor caught a lot of people's eyes. Again, in the auto world, anyone seeking replacements for classic British cars have a source, Universal Vintage Tires in Hershey, PA. They distribute Dunlop vintage tires to keep all those '50s and '60s Brit drivers happy. The new old tires ARE STILL BEING PRODUCED at Ft Dunlop in Birmingham.
If Woolistic could do small batch replication of jerseys, could a run of guaranteed-spoken-for items be at all practicable?....
Ken Wehrenberg, Hermann, MO