MotorEthos

Sports car racing... it's a sport held close to my heart. And when the Tudor United Sports Car Championship is in Monterey my happy place is a quick drive to the California coast. This year the series is in year two of a marriage between ALMS and Grand-Am and by my track side observation there's no annulment in sight. Teams, drivers and fans all seem to be benefiting from the merger.

It's a rare thing that we've been blessed to have auto enthusiast film directors to bring us remarkable films such as Senna , 1, and Rush . And now we can add a fourth to the racing documentary genre, Adrenalin - The BMW Touring Car Story produced by Stereoscreen.

Race season is in full swing and being race fans we took the opportunity to soak in the Tudor United Sports Car Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. If you've been stuck under a rock we'll forgive you for not knowing this is the inaugural race season for the new series that was conceived by the merger of the American LeMans and Grand-Am Series. We can tell you that the marriage, arguably in the honeymoon stage, looks to be off to a great start and we're looking forward to following the races for the continuation of the series. But this post isn't going to recount the blow-by-blow track action and pour stats into your inner monologue. There are dedication professional sports journalists for that. No, instead we're going to tell you the story of taking a sports car fan to their first race and watching that excitement evolve into racing's newest fan.

What do mini-skirts, crop-tops and fluorescent colors have in common with this BMW E36? They all went out with a bang in 1999! But what sets this apart from the many E36s on the used-car market is the M3 badge and removable hardtop. And just like those mini-skirts, the fashion has come full circle and they're back in style. Find this enthusiast owned E36 M3 on  Craigslist near Folsom, CA for $7,500.

Whether you decide to keep it completely stock, or switch out the factory seats for a nice set of Recaros and drop an M3 engine in it - the BMW 2002 & 1600 is a timeless classic with endless amounts of potential. We were in Brisbane, CA this weekend checking out the Bay Area 02 Swap & Show. Event information for this and past events can be found here.