Car of the Month

January 2009

Happy New Year

Clive Massel's 2002 Alpina

Want to see your 02 featured here? Email me any 02, any condition richstern@hotmail.com.

TJ 29097 is a very rare motor vehicle.

It is a genuine factory certified Alpina and forms part of the Clive Massel 2002 collection.

Clive is known for the building of an Alpina racing works replica featured as Car of the Month Oct/Nov 2006.

TJ 29097 is a one owner car from new and Clive is now the second owner of the car.

The car was originally ordered for Maurice Rosenberg, a well known racing figure and tuning specialist in South Africa.

Maurice originally worked for a company called Superformance owned by South African racing icon Basil Van Rooyen.

The car has a very comprehensive history file containing all details relating to the vehicle including all the bills of entry, Alpina Dyno sheet.Alpina schedule of extras supplied as well as all the technical data relating to the car.

Ownership details and verification of its authenticity are all contained in the vehicle file.

The following is a summary of the vehicle history.

The car was invoiced by BMW Alpina Bovensiepen.kg to Maurice Rosenberg on the 15th August 1969.

Bmw Alpina took delivery of the car ex factory on the 11th December 1969.

The official bill of entry was dated the 30th December 1969 and the car was loaded on a ship to Durban South Africa known as “Kaapland”.Included in the shipment was another Alpina which was a BMW Tilux ordered for a Mr. Brian Aber.

The ship docked on the 5th of February 1970 and the car was cleared on the 14th of February 1970.

In accordance with Alpina invoice 06/388 prepared by Günter Gimmler the car was ordered to the following specifications.

Chassis no 1644834
Engine no 1644834

Color Colorado

Imitation leather.
Michelin XAS radial ply tires (Original spare wheel and tyre still with the car).

Laminated front windscreen

Sunroof

5 speed Getrag Close ratio dog leg Gearbox

Alpina certified 165 Din H.P engine with forged pistons, Weber double carburetors, 300o camshaft, 46 inlet valves, 39 exhaust valves, competition exhaust manifold and muffler.
The original dyno sheet of the car is with the papers of the car.

Test bench run of engine

Exhaust branch manifold

Limited slip Differential

Adjustable anti sway bars front and rear in exchange

Alpina chassis set complete with 5/1/2 x 13 ‘steel wheels.

Heavy duty front suspension units with Koni inserts

Koni rear shock absorbers

High ratio steering box 12.8:1

Alpina leather steering wheel.

Recaro bucket seat

Recaro sports seat

2 Romer 3 point seat belts

Alpina instrument panel, speedometer in miles per hour, tachometer with adjustable maximum revolution indicator

Vdo cockpit instruments oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature and ammeter.

90 litre fuel tank with special filler cap.

Light alloy foot rest.

Trico racing wiper blades.

Installation costs.

The car has not been restored and is absolutely original, down to the scratches that were noted by the customs prior to the vehicle being released by them.

TJ 29097 was recently entered in the Bmw Car Club Gauteng annual concours.

Because of its originality the car was entered in the d’ETAT section.

It was awarded the best classic ,the best 2002 and finished 2nd overall in the d’ETAT category missing out on an overall win by only one point!

Ironically the low mileage of 38,000Km cost the car the win!!
The standard of concours events in South Africa is generally very high indeed and the car achieved as follows.

Interior 21.5 out of 25

Boot 4.5 out of 5

Exterior Bodywork 21.5 out of 25

Engine 9 out of 10

Bonus points 17 out of 25,dropping 6 points for low mileage!

Judges discretionary marks 10 out of 10

Total rating 83.5 out of 100.

To win for next year and to avoid being penalized
I will have to do at least another 60,000km of heart throbbing motoring.

The car also featured at a recent motor show held at Fourways, Sandton representing the Bmw Club.

It is seldom that one is fortunate enough to find a 2002 with such a comprehensive history and impeccable documentation.

The car has been lovingly cared for by Maurice Rosenberg since new and has been under blankets for the past few years.

It was necessary to change all the oils, petrol, thorough cleaning of the carburetors, flushing of the radiator and fuel tank, replacing the water pump due to the car standing so long as well as flushing the brake system.

Despite the fact that it has a 300 degree camshaft, the car idles very smoothly and produces most of its power in the higher rev range.

The car is a left hand drive version and an absolute delight to own and drive.

The rev counter was not fitted by Alpina.
It was a special VDO order fitted for the customer. The original rev counter sits behind the Big VDO.

I have been fanatical about keeping the car exactly how it was owned by Maurice Rosenberg. He signed an authenticity affidavit for the concourse.
He also fitted a 1600 badge.
This was to create deception and havoc amongst the Sunday evening road house racing on our public roads so well known in South Africa.

In the 70’s the big thing in South Africa was to go to the Pure and Cool road house situated along Jeppe street, Malvern and challenge people for a road drag.
The Alpina was a giant killer often beating the bigger v8’s such as the famous Basil Green Capri Perana and the equally well known Chevy Can Ams.
The bigger cars could not stop where the cars had to do a u turn and come back up the drag!!.
If you find this of interest please edit this appropriately.

The grill was painted black by Maurice (Maurice (left) & Clive below);