Fwd: [Es2] So Long, and thanks for all the fish...

[Peter Schulz]

>From: "Brandon Hull" <Hull at cardinalpartners.com>
>To: <es2 at audifans.com>
>
>Subject: [Es2] So Long, and thanks for all the fish...
>
>
>Would someone pass this on to the quattro, 20v, and 200 lists?
>
>Wednesday a hauler showed up at the house to take the eS2 to it's new 
>owner in Canada.
>
>It was about ten years ago that I discovered the existence of the Audi S2, 
>and concluded it was the perfect next car:  stylish yet discreet, fast, 
>great technology, and quattro.  The only problem was they didn't sell them 
>in the U.S.  I explored the prospect of importing one, which as many folks 
>have discovered over the years, isn't practicable.  I had been an internet 
>user since Paleolithic times, and quickly discovered the quattro 
>list.  From conversations with folks there, and the newly formed 20v list, 
>I was introduced to the prospect of building an S2 using a US CQ with a 3B 
>engine.  Guys like Mark Nelson, Ramana Lageman (who would later build the 
>eS2 website, then go on to a rally driver career), Eric Renneison (sp?) 
>Jeff Goggins, and a half dozen others planted the seed of what was 
>possible.  Ned Ritchie had actually done a conversion, and introduced me 
>to it's current owner, Dean Treadway, who graciously gave me a drive.  I 
>was hooked.
>
>Thanks to the power of the internet, I networked my way to a very nice guy 
>in South Africa who happened to be head of VW/Audi logistics for the whole 
>country.  He liked Americans, thought my idea was great, and mailed me 
>copies of the S2 and RS2 parts microfiche (this was before the days of 
>ETKA, boys and girls).  Using my kid's compound microscope, I 
>painstakingly tracked down a parts list of components required to convert 
>the Coupe.  Further networking brought me to a guy named Harald who worked 
>for Schmidt Motorsports, the racing contractor hired by Audi to design the 
>S2 in the first place.  Harald shipped me all the parts I needed.  Thanks 
>to guys on the q list like Steve Eiche and Bruce Bell, I did a full 
>refresh of the 3B I bought (also a lead from Ned), and also discovered 
>George Baxter in nearby Bristol PA.  George wound up doing the actual 
>conversion, courtesy of his ace mechanic Corey, now running an Audi 
>service department in FL.
>
>The car was everything I'd hoped for, fast, reliable, with room for my 
>three young kids in back.  I loved being able to embarrass M3s on the way 
>to home depot, then fold down the rear seat and carry home 300lbs of 
>bagged gravel.  Most importantly, the car got me involved with the quattro 
>club, where I met guys like Paul Royal, Chris Miller, Greg Amy and lot's 
>of others whose names I'm embarrassed not to be able to summon as quickly 
>as I type.  I started doing track events, which turned out to be the 
>entrée I'd always sought into the racing world.  I made a lot of great 
>friends, and became an annual attendee of track events at Thunderhill and 
>Mid Ohio.
>
>Other highlights included the '98 or '99 quattro quarterly article, which 
>I think inspired a lot of imitators particularly on the west coast, as 
>well as one almost perfect clone built by George and Corey for Tom V in 
>MN.  Lowlights included crashing at Pocono in 2001??  Although the 
>subsequent rebuild allowed us to make the car even better in almost every 
>respect.   Along the way I organized a dozen or so karting boondoggles, 
>where quattro guys would meet at kart tracks at various cities around the US.
>
>Anyhow, I sure enjoyed that car.  It was stunningly expensive to build 
>into the spec I envisioned, (I stopped counting at $60K) but at the end of 
>the day worth every penny not just in terms of the hardware but of the 
>life experiences it opened up.  However life marches on.  My three kids 
>haven't fit in the back seat for a long time now.  My wife finally 
>confessed she didn't like driving such a stiff suspension on the 
>street.  I started driving the car less and less, while needing more space 
>for things like racecars, trailers, tow vehicles etc.  So I don't have any 
>regrets about selling it.  I did get a little choked up when I was sorting 
>through some misc parts and found the S2 badge from the Pocono crash.  I 
>got transported back to the thrill of opening all the boxes that came from 
>Schmidt, and seeing the S2 badge for the first time.  It was possibly the 
>first S2 badge in America, certainly the first I'd ever seen.
>
>I'll let the new owner introduce himself if he wants to, but he seems like 
>a good guy who will really appreciate it; and that was important to 
>me.  I'll keep the eS2 website up as long as rennlist will host it.  I 
>know it's been as much a source of frustration to users as it has been 
>help, and I never did acquire the skills to update it properly.  So thanks 
>again Ramana whereever you are these days.
>
>I'll stay subscribed to the eS2 list, but again wanted to thank everyone 
>for their contribution to a great chapter in my own motor life, and for 
>all the friendships and good times.
>
>Brandon
>Ersatz S2
>
>
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1991 200 20v Q Avant Titan Grey
1991 200 20v Q Avant Indigo Mica
1991 90 20v Q Red
1990 CQ silver (awaiting S2 engine transplant)

Chelmsford Ma, USA