Winter 2019
The 50th Annual BMW Car Club of America’s Oktoberfest is history, and so is Oktoberfest. More about the end of Oktoberfest later.
Thirteen of us from the Sonora Chapter travelled to this year’s Oktoberfest held in, and around, Greenville, SC. Our chapter had more representation than any other in the Pacific Region, which has 13 chapters in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Hawaii. For a relatively small chapter that says a lot about how active our chapter is. Total attendance exceeded 1,000 members and guests, one of the largest turnouts in Club history.
This year’s Oktoberfest officially started on Tuesday, October 15th. However, the BMW Performance Center held a ladies driving program the day before which was a sell-out. On opening day, main activities were registration and the Welcome Dinner and Show. Spartanburg factory tours were available throughout the week, as were Performance Center driving programs and BMW CCA Foundation tours.
Major highlights of the week ranged from autocross competition held at Michelin’s proving grounds; a (Time, Speed and Distance) TSD rally; an impressive Concours, with nearly 90 outstanding classic and modern cars on display along Greenville’s Main Street; the BMW Foundation tour became a walk through BMW and Club history; the BMW NA Dinner featured a panel discussion with Bill Auberlen and Conner De Phillippi about their racing experiences; the Grand Opening of the National Headquarters; the Festival/Exhibition/Demos held at the BMW Performance Center, and finally the 50th Anniversary Celebration Dinner on Saturday night, under the tent and in the rain, which completed the annual gathering of the BMW faithful.
The Festival at BMW’s Performance Center was unique, and to many the number one highlight of Oktoberfest. It started with a P51 flyover and moved to the track for Isetta races. Charity rides were available in a variety of BMW classic race cars. There was even a BMW motorcycle demonstration. For some of us the meeting and having photos taken with Bill Auberlen (who won the Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta the week before) and Connor De Phillippi was a very memorable experience.
Since the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7s are built in Spartanburg, factory tours were highly popular. Each tour began at the Zentrum, which serves as a museum and store. From there we were bused to the final assembly building for a tour that lasted about an hour. We were able to see the final steps of building the X cars from the bodies and engines being “married” to the final inspection before the vehicles exited the plant to be shipped all over the world.
There were a number of vendors that participated in Oktoberfest giving us an opportunity to pick up some memorabilia and freebies. One of our Chapter members even won a Michelin tire gift certificate valued at more than $1,000.
And of course, meeting old friends and making new ones was the most enjoyable part of the Oktoberfest experience in South Carolina. We met people from as far away as Australia and New Zealand and as close as Phoenix. Social time we shared together at lunch, dinner, the beer garden and walking about the various Oktoberfest sites was the most meaningful and memorable highlight of the entire week.
At the BMW NA Dinner, the Club’s President, Steve Johnson announced that this year’s Oktoberfest would be the last. The Club is emphasizing Regional, rather than National, events in the future. However, there is one National event still on the calendar. It’s going to be in Palm Springs, CA in 2020 and will be centered around the BMW Performance Driving Center in Thermal from September 15th through the 19th. Were we told it will be very similar to past Oktoberfest’s in content and events, but will have a different name. If you have never attended a National event, next year will be your last chance. And keep in mind, Palm Springs is only about 5 hours from Tucson. Hope to see you there!
All the best,
Fred Knotek
Comments are closed