Hi Friends! I'm back! It's been five months since I've written anything, after I told y'all I'd put out at least one piece every month this year. This one was too good not to share, enjoy!
In 2015 when I started Horsepower & Pizza - before I even moved to Pittsburgh or started making videos and slangin' merch - I set out on Twitter, trying to build a small circle of automotive enthusiasts; who ever thought I'd end up with this community of degenerates? Not me- but I'm damn grateful that I did.
Back then, the online algorithms were much simpler- the follow/follow back/unfollow technique was in its prime. I started by following people who shared my love for cars, motorsports, and driving; bringing me to friendships in Arizona, California, Washington state, various parts of Texas and North Carolina, and even England! But two kids that I followed from New Jersey stuck out to me significantly, because while we shared the passion for pre-millenium BMWs, they were also some of the first people to actually follow back & interact with HP&P.
Dom & Troy - Cousins from New Jersey who have probably owned more e36s combined than there are teeth in the state of West Virginia.
I vaguely remember contemplating buying a slightly wrecked silver e36 coupe from Troy about four years ago, which would've brought an e36 to my channel as a drift project in 2016. I don't remember why I didn't follow through. (I was definitely told that I wasn't allowed to buy it...) Dom had a really clean Alpine White e36 sedan. (Are you catching on yet?)
I talked to these two on Twitter & Instagram at least a few times a month for a while, and sometime around 2016 we just stopped interacting for one reason or another - no harm, no foul.
I picked up my e36 sedan back in March as a drift car project. I bought it with the understanding that it had a blown head gasket which, under further investigation, turned out to be a cracked head. After sourcing three more heads for the M50, all of which were also cracked, I purchased a donor engine from Dave Roberts of Drift Evergreen - The man who rescued my e36 from the towing company, who picked it up as an abandoned car in - you guessed it - New Jersey.
My car is an Alpine White e36 sedan. You HAVE to be seeing where this is going, by now!
Last week for Video Thursday, I installed the front bash bars on the car. After reassembly, I snapped a few pics on my phone and tossed one on Twitter Wednesday evening:
Thursday was the first time in 4 years that I heard from Troy:
Troy passed the interaction along to Dom, who then reached out to talk and provided more photos of the car, which I clearly remember from all those years ago on Twitter!
The above photos were supplied to me by Dom, and you can see he shows off the floral fabric added to the interior, which I poked fun at in my videos after I picked my car up from Lorenzo. If you look closely at either of the photos of the rear quarter window, you'll notice a tenant parking permit.
Here is that very same rear quarter window, as it sits in my driveway:
Yes, Dom's Alpine White e36 sedan is, without a doubt, now my Alpine White e36 sedan. What are the chances that I am now the owner of a car that was once owned by one of my friends, and first followers of Horsepower & Pizza?! I thought this was too cool not to share! Hope y'all are well, I promise it won't be five months until you hear from me again.
Much Love.
-B
The world is so small, till it ain't -Mac Miller