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Fellow ACFL Members and Audi Enthusiasts
This will be the sixth time that one of the ACFL’s strongest supporting dealership organizations Reeves Motorsports and Audi Tampa will be hosting a LeMans event. Unfortunately because of the withdrawal of Audi from LeMans there will be no Audis on track. As a result, the dropping of the flag will be held at their air-conditioned Porsche facility this year, but that will not put a damper on the festivities,. The important factor is that Reeves has extended an invite to all ACFL members and race fans to attend as another member of the Volkswagen group provides driving lessons to the rest of the world. There will be the usual excellent food and camaraderie so please insure you set aside June 17th to attend. Regarding the RSVP as of this writing I do not have that information and it will be going out on a separate notification as soon as it is received. Audi may be in the woodshed because of the Abgas-affair but we will be there in spirit. I see with the new Formula E series, which Audi is involved, one is relegated to driving with battery powered cars and one must make a pit stop consisting of the driver coming in and then switching cars. Sort of like a car relay instead of the driver relay of an endurance race. Perhaps that is an efficient way to get from point A to B, start to finish, instead of one car it is required to take two. I guess most of us would agree, one never has enough cars, So one driver must go through two cars to reach the finish line. Have we inadvertently rediscovered the 21st century variant of the 19th century Pony Express and made a race out of it?. One has to burn up a few horses to get the mail through? Speaking of the Pony Express one should check out ” Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express“. The reason for the orphans preferred was the high mortality rate of riders let alone horses. I never had electric slot cars, I guess I am prejudiced.
It is hot in Florida during the summer so activities slow down a bit except for the morning cars and coffee, nevertheless if you are in one of our active regions and would like to plan a drive for the fall, it is never too late to contact one of your local region leads. The dockets are blank at the moment for events, this is your club and except for some Oktoberfest rumblings, which are a lifetime away there is nothing happening. It is your club and activities need to reflect your interests. This also holds true for the newsletter and our website. If there is an ACFL member out there who would like to write about a trip they have taken of a particularly interesting Audi centric item, please send it in.
Thanks
RSG
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Here is another photo quiz. You need to guess amongst other things where the photo above was taken. Now if you have been to the location, it will be easy, you will remember it right off the bat but it can be figured out with a little sleuthing. Here are a few hints. One must know the nomenclature used for German license plates or at least what the first two or three letters mean. Now of course this is a fake vanity plate similar to the ones used in photos of Audis in their advertisements The rest is up to you. I need the city and place. This may be too easy. The first correct answer will receive bragging rights in the next issue of the newsletter. Answers are to be mailed to [email protected]. Good luck and BTW that was an original A3 hatch.
Down the Road
June 3, 2017
Gulf Coast Region
Cars and Coffee Reeves Motorsport 6:30-8:30 AM
Reeves Motorsport, Tampa
June 10, 2017
Gulf Coast Region Cars and Coffee
Audi Clearwater 8:00-9:30 AM
June 11, 2017
Gold Coast Region Cars and Coffee Miami
Casavana Restaurant 8202 Mills Lane Drive 8am – 12pm
June 17, 2017
Gulf Coast Region
Drop the Flag for the 24 Hours of LeMans at Reeves Porsche
Additional information and RSVP will be out in a separate announcement
Some final thoughts
I see the new four door A5 Sportback has begun to arrive at dealerships. It was my understanding that at my local dealership a potential customer saw one being off loaded from the transporter and bought it while it was still snuggly wrapped in its’ protective cocoon. It ended up being delivered prior to my arrival as I was looking forward to seeing this latest iteration of model to hit stateside. Back in 2012, a fellow ACNA member and I had a wonderful couple days driving a S5 Sportback in Seefeld delivering terminal injury to numerous orange pylons as we executed pirouettes on the ice. Thank goodness for a couple of guys who proudly consider themselves as members of the “Over the Hill Gang” as opposed to PLN’s “Hole in the Wall Gang” we were not at the bottom of the class in the timed event and did not have to commit any nefarious actions such as robbing trains or actually shooting folks to become infamous for our actions amongst that group. BTW, if you have never taken the trip to Seefeld, it should be put on your bucket list, even if you hate snow and driving on ice, it is simply a fantastic time and well worth the expense, especially with the value of the dollar to the Euro.
I also see the creative writing class at BMW has been hard at work. Some day they will hold a seminar in Virginia when Herndon’s luck, runs out and their stars become crossed and the little hard work they do, (talking about the marketing folks here) thrown in along with the capriciousness of the automotive customer fails them a they no longer continue their record sales month after month after month. In April 2017 BMW sales dropped 9.3 percent to 2016 not so hot. Unfortunately 2016 sales had dropped 7.4 percent to 2015. Not the best of trends. Perhaps some one should have looked at last years comments prior to making the ones this year. I know we all have short memories and mine is one of the shortest just ask some of my friends, but please and I did look this up to get it correct. In 2016 it was stated “April is always a volatile month for BMW with model changeover taking place in some of our very popular X models, and the improving consumer confidence that typically follows the arrival of Spring still developing,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. Frankly understanding all of that was a bit difficulty, some obfuscation? Then in 2017 we are told the reasons for the decline are “For BMW, tight supply of key models had a strong effect in April” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Our very popular new 5 Series is still ramping up production as the latest variants are making their way to our dealerships”. I am not sure how one could have a tight supply if sales are going down, did they not ship cars? Well, I see new players, one got pulled back to the Vaterland but his ghost writer should have done a better job. Perhaps today, Cassius of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar would have said to dear Bernhard instead of dear Brutus, ” The fault in not in our stars but in our cars” . Be rest assured one day it will come around to Audi though and the weak point as I see it is in the dealerships and specifically delivery process of CPO’ed cars not what is coming across the pond or the Rio Grand.
And on that note. hope you enjoyed the newsletter.
Cheers and Safe Motoring
Bob Greving
President, ACFL
[email protected]
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