Hello All. I thought I would share my LTW Story of how I bought her last Spring.
It isn't a stock LTW but one modified by PTG back in 1995 when new. Here is the quick story of how this car came to be in my garage.
The car was bought new by Arthur Coia with the intent of making a GT car. Tom and Arthur decided it was the best platform to start with. So with delivery miles only the car was sent back to PTG for the modifications to begin.
Euro 3 liter with 365 bhp, 6 speed, CF hood / trunk and wing, group A suspension, momo seats, race dash, CF cluster, 14" and 12" AP race calipers, etc. Per Tom he spent an additional $70 grand with the motor reported to cost $45,000 alone. The build took 6 months.
After driving it around the streets of Maryland and Washington DC he decided it was too much car for him . He had Tom list the car for sale in Autoweek in Nov 1998.
Arthur sold the LTW to a developer in Seattle WA who tracked the car ever chance he got tallying about 3500 miles. Fast forward to early spring 2017 and he is unfortunately diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and decided to sell the LTW.
Luckily I was browing the webs at work ( BMW CCA Classifieds) and I saw the listing. Immediately I new it was the car for me but little did I know the seller would be interviewing me for the car. Was I a worthy owner. After a few phone conversations and showing him my humble car collection, we reach an agreement.
Now normally this is where I would call my shipping broker and shedule an enclosed trailer for transportation from Seattle to Md. I decided under the circumstances of the sale and given the type of car it was it, I would fly in and trailer the car home, 2900 miles.
Upon receipt of the car she went straight to RRT in Virginia for an updated suspension, wheels and much more.
Then it was off to All American Paint Protection for the works. Multi step correction, trim rejuvenation, adding new motorsport flags and a lifetime warranties coating of Ceramic Pro.
She looks better then new and is as fast as Lightening, her name is White Lightening given to her by Loch her second owner. Weighs 2720 lbs with 1/4 tank of gas and no driver. Pulls to 8600 rpm amd makes an insane sound from the CF aidbkx above 7500 rpm.
I am pretty sure I'll be taking her to VIR end of Sept for her debut with me. While she looks like a show car she is no garage princess.
Thanks for reading and Ill post pics soon.
Last edited by PTG:LTW; 09-10-2017 at 08:58 AM.
A 55-minute drive up to VIR to hear/see this monster might be in order!
Current:
98 M3/4/5 Alpine/Magma
05 MazdaSpeed Miata
Sold:
00 Honda VFR
99 528iT M/T
98 M3/4/5 Arctic/Dove
94 R-package Miata
89 Honda NT650
87 325is turned SpecE30
Amazing car, very cool story. Kind of busy in Sep or Id trailer out my S54 LTW to be in attendance for that debut!! Where did you get the replacement motorsport flags? Replicas or OEM? Have any more or a source for a F+R set? Mine are still original but would kill to have a OEM replacement set.
Wow. Car sounds amazing. In for pics and videos hopefully.
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
We would love to see pics! Great story. I remember falling in love with the E36 while watching the PTG cars race on tv in the late 90s.
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What a cool car and great story. I hope to see it around at a club or track event. I hope you enjoy her.
My Current Garage:
LTW-euro.jpg
I think I saw your car few weeks ago at Katie's Cars and Coffee. Amazing! (If this is yours)
Last edited by Keda; 09-08-2017 at 12:17 PM.
needs ambers!
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
Can't post pics yet I guess. Go to bmwmregistry.com, find the LTW section and I'm Michael Wah. Or I can email them to someone to post for me ??
Last edited by PTG:LTW; 09-08-2017 at 09:57 PM.
If you have the images hosted somewhere, just post the link in your message. i.e., www.hostingplace.com/michael_wah/0001abcd.jpg
Otherwise, wait until you have ten messages in the forum.
Welcome to Bimmerforums!
04M3 TiAg 69k slick-top 3 pedal
99M3 Cosmos 61k S50B32 euro 6Spd
88M3 AW 43k miles Project FS
WTB: 3.5" Eurosport/Conforti CAI
Thank you all for the compliments. She has been hidden in the NW for quite some time and I'm excited to share her with everyone now. Facebook enabled me to get ahold of Arthur Coia and I finally got the story of how the car came to be. See Facebook isn't evil 100 % of the time
I'd like to know more info on the motor. Sounds like an expensive build. Interested to know what all went into it... $45k into a motor is no joke
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
Thanks to all who have offered to post pics for me. I do believe I can post pics now.
Here are a few I Phone pics. Professional pics will be done for a magazine shoot shortly.
More pics to come and just a sneak peak of the motor for now. Note : Group A suspension has been removed and stored. MCS Double Adjustable with Vorshlag camber plates went in.
More to come.
Mike
Last edited by PTG:LTW; 09-10-2017 at 09:24 AM.
Build Sheet and pic showing original BBS wheels Tom and Art selected for the build. The pics is pre detail and motorsport flag install.
The decision behind the wheel swap:
The AP Racing calipers are massive and back in 1995 this was the only wheel that fit. Sadly you need to run a front spacer with this setup therefore lowering the car in the front wasn't totally feasible without stretching the tires. In the end we went with the APEX setup.
Last edited by PTG:LTW; 09-10-2017 at 09:11 AM.
So much awesome
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
Are you taking this beautiful majestic unicorn by H2o in Ocean City at the end of the month by any chance? I would absolutely love to see it in person.
She will be at VIR end of the month and then considering O fest end of October
btw, those BBS's that were originally equipped are BBS RS-II
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
Nice. For looks, they look great! But, for function, the APEX wheel line is definitely a better candidate.
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
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