Terry Sayther Automotive-BMW Vintage Marathon

Those People Are Going to Work---We’re Going on a VINTAGE MARATHON!!!!!!
BMW Vintage Marathon Trip Log from
Terry Sayther

Once in a while, an opportunity comes along, a rare opportunity, one that won’t be repeated. Something that you just have to participate in, something that just has to include YOU. That’s the way I felt when I heard about the BMW International Vintage Marathon of 2004. God knows I’m old enough to be called VINTAGE, and we have enough old BMWs to choose from.

Initially, for the September event we planned to drive the two Vintage BMWs that we have entered in La Carrera Pamamericana in October. Unfortunately, a few days before our planned departure our 1958 502 voted “NO!” by having a massive driveline failure. Plan Two has us driving Debbie’s 1971 BMW 2002 Baur targa cabriolet and as a support vehicle, our 1989 BMW 325i touring. Support Vehicle? Why do we need a support vehicle? Some people say that I can’t do anything the easy way, so just participating in a 2,500 mile Marathon (once you get to the start!) is not enough. I had to volunteer my entire family to do more. So now, we are the Official Photographers for the event.

What that means is that we are a team of three people, each with a digital camera, taking pictures constantly throughout the event, printing pictures every day, preparing a photo CD, preparing and showing a slide show everyday, and more. We have laptop computers, multiple printers, a ton if ink, 2 tons of paper, a projector, a screen, a spare light bulb that costs ¼ of the national debt, and more. See why we need a support vehicle?

We are not professional photographers, by any means. We have never done this before. We didn’t have the equipment, have any idea what we were doing. So naturally, when Goetz Pfafllin asked us to do it, we said, “Sure!” Then we started figuring out what we needed to do. First we got a camera. And a printer. We went to a couple of club races, did our best to photograph them and print pictures, and found out there is a reason why everybody isn’t doing this…it’s a really big job! Next, we got some more cameras, a more modern laptop, more printers, and more. You get the idea. I’ve heard you can make a small fortune in the race photography business…you just have to start with a big one, as they say.

So, that’s how we spent our summer vacation. Now, it’s the end of August, and I think we are ready. Tomorrow we start our personal marathon, adding a week’s worth of driving to get to the beginning of the official Marathon at BMW Corporate Headquarters in New Jersey,. We’ve tried to pack for a month-long drive, but who knows what we’ll need.