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

[Matt twentyV]

Brandon, definitely the passing of an era.  You were a
pioneer, and while you weren't the first to stuff a
20vt into an 80/90/urq chassis your quest for
authenticity was unique.  The visibility you gave us
on the quattro and 20V list as you went through the
project was also unique, and certainly inspired me
(and probably others) that such a project was
possible.  I still remember your posts as the motor
was first fired and you finally drove it home (a
significant lag IIRC).
Now, there are dozens of DIY conversions going on that
are documented here on eS2, motorgeek, and the
S2forum.  Or, one can do as I did and drop a coupe off
at 2Bennett and drive away an eS2 a few months later. 
With a nice coupe running around $5K these days, you
can be in for well under 20K total without lifting a
wrench, though the result will not be nearly as
authentic as yours... I shy away from calling my car
an eS2.  And with folks like Minhea and Javad around,
opportunities for bolt-on hp increases abound.
I picked my car up from 2Bennett on New Years Day
2002.  Since then I have only put about 20K miles on
it, but it has been extremely reliable, a total blast
to drive, and I still look back over my shoulder after
parking it and walking away.  It is the fastest and
sexiest car in my stable (though I have become very
fond of the S6 avant) and the cq is still one of the
best looking cars on the road in my opinion.
Anyhow, thanks for the inspiration, its been a
pleasure interacting with you here in cyberspace. 
Good luck with your racing, and hope to see you back
at Thunderhill again someday.
-Matt
'91cq//20vt, modified a bit, 170k
'95.5S6//avant, stock, 80k
'00S4//30vtt, stock, 90k


--- Brandon Hull <Hull at cardinalpartners.com> wrote:

> 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
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Es2 mailing list
> Es2 at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/es2
> 


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