10th Annual BMW Roadster Homecoming
Greenville, South Carolina
August 30 to September 3, 2006

(Start by scrolling to the bottom and working up)



















When we reached Cincinnati we were in the Buckeye State and the home stretch.










The Colonel's kitchen as it was. I looked but couldn't quite tell what all eleven secret spices were.















Here, Miss Jane tells The Colonel how much she like's his chicken.












We stopped at Corbin, KY, the birthplace of KFC on the way home.

Jan and Tom stand in front of the very first KFC.
















KJRoadster spent the last night at the motel by big brother Z4 "GOT CURVS" Roadster.










The theme for the banquet Saturday night was "Black Tie and Blue Jeans".

If this couple didn't win the costume contest, they should have!








Just as we were leaving, Chris Bangle drove up, the chief car designer for BMW. Got an autograph, needless to say.











BMW techs came out and spent all day Saturday fixing little problems on the attendee's cars. Our tech said it is the best day of the year for him. Customers come to him with a problem on their car, he asks them how they like their car, and they exclaim that "THEY LOVE THEIR CAR"!









Tom standing beside the Z4 Roadster we used on the track. We each took three turns at a drag race, three times around a road course track, and two times on a slalom.

What a GREAT afternoon!







Lunch - Brats and Dogs

How much more German can you get without some cold, chunky potato soup?













Back of the official Homecoming T-shirts

These are License plates from some of the Z's











Another great license plate













Check out these two license plates. Hard to find a "regular" non-personalized license plate on any car here.

(Click on the photo for a larger picture.)








A VERY cool trailer near us. Saw a number of these. Would come in handy, as the cars trunk holds about two duffle bags and then it's full.

(However, one of the BMW designer's later said, "Zees cars are for driving, they are impactical; if you vant to haul something, buy a pickup!")









Panorama Photo day through the windsheild of KJRoadster











Tom and Kel as they will appear on the final photo. (this is last years photo, 1 foot tall by 5 foot wide).












Each year they take a panoramic photo of all 550 cars that register for the homecoming.

Tom and Kel as they would appear on the big photo of all +/- 550 cars.











Rows and rows and rows and rows of BMW Roadsters at the dinner at Furman University on Friday evening.










Our table Friday night at the dinner at Furman University. Hurricane Ernesto had left by that time and the weather was perfect.










A BMW Isseta.

I don't think I'd want to drive from Archbold to Greenville in this pulling a trailer.
http://www.theclassictimes.com/english/magazine/MicroCars/BMWIsseta.asp







Back Home again, at the Zentrum. All BMW roadsters and SUV's are manufactured in this plant in Greer, SC.










Kel and Jane at the Zentrum, the museum and gift shop in Greer, SC.













Grandpa of the Z3's















Interior of the best roadster in the world in my humble opinion - The Z8.











Also inside the museum: A Z8 - Does a car get any better than this?













Inside the Zentrum:

The first Z3 Roadster, hand built and used in a James Bond movie.


http://www.bmwzentrum.com/







BMW Roadster vendor row on the parking lot at the BMW plant.

Wheel repair, rag top perservers, paintless dent repair, and many others.










Upon arrival in Greenville, the hotel has water hoses, soap, and towels for cleaning the cars...hey, you wouldn't want to take a dirty Roadster to a Homecoming!














A pack of Z's shortly after leaving Deals Gap.

There were at least this many behind us.










Enough of this standing around, time to hit the road!








This is a 3 photo panoramic veiw of Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, which was a great place to rest after what Tom called a "tense" ride. Beautiful area. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)






A row of Roadsters at Deals Gap















Kel at the famous Deals Gap, a place to collect your wits at the end of the Dragon.








The Tail of the Dragon is a stretch of US 129 that has 318 curves in 11 miles.

See http://www.tailofthedragon.com/maps.html


Just of few of the dozens of roadsters resting at Deals Gap after running the Tail of the Dragon on Thursday on the way to BMW Roadster Homecoming 2006.






I knew it was going to be a good day when we followed this Z4 from the Knoxville airport out toward The Tail of the Dragon. Check out his license plate.










This is the path we took from Alcoa, TN (Knoxville Airport) to Greenville, SC. It has to be one of the more scenic routes you can find, and with a sports car, one of the best for pure driving. We left Alcoa at 8:30am and arrived in Greenville around 5:00pm.

(Click on the image for a larger view)





Tom at our stop at Sonny's BBQ in Corbin, KY on the way to meet up with other convoys in Knoxville, TN.













2000 BMW Z3 M Roadster