Long Walks to BMW Are a Badge of Honor

Owner: Noël Vandyck

Year, Make, and Model: 1989 BMW E30

Location: Mol, Belgium

Photographer: Jordy Lenaerts

Cars and motorcycles have been a part of my life since I was little because my dad was always busy restoring or building them and I fell right into it. I used to prefer motorcycles because I began riding when I was five-years-old. But as I approached eighteen, I got more and more interested in cars because that’s when you can get your license.

I was looking for a car on the internet and I came across a white BMW E30 owned by the couple who bought it new in 1989 in Luxembourg. I had been searching for the kind of car that when I would walk away from it and look back, I’d smile (and I still do that every time). The BMW is fairly original, although I did some minor tweaks like the Alpina wheels and classic Nardi steering wheel, recoated the underneath of the car and some other normal maintenance stuff but besides that the car is original and wears its age with a lot of pride.

I drive it a lot, but I like to keep it clean and well maintained and I love that even though everything is in order the dash and center console squeak and rattle a little when you go through corners. I love the way it turns in and how heavy the steering gets when I’m parallel parking because it has no power steering. Also, every guy from my class thinks I’m a fool when I park my car a kilometer from my school because the spaces are too tight and I’m afraid my doors will get dinged, but I wear it as a badge of honor.

Everyday I drive to school through a back country road and that’s where I like to drive it the most, it’s only a 1600cc but on those roads you can keep it going through the corners and you feel every twitch or slide the car does.