Today whilst spending a few hours in Munich you realise how wealthy some individuals are. Yes there are rich people everywhere but I've seen more expensive cars today than I would have expected. Cars in a short period of time (and mostly very new/recent models) included:
- at least 4 Ferraris
- 3 Aston Martins
- one Rolls Royce Wraith
- a couple of Lamborghini's
- lots and lots of top end Porsche's
Obviously a lot of performance or top models from German marques like Audi, BMW and MB but that's no surprise. So lots of M cars, S-Class MB's and a few Audi S models*. Most of the more expensive cars were on the same street or nearby.
Perhaps more surprising was how fast some of the cars being driven went. Acceleration from a stand still at lights was at high speed and they were speeding... and getting away with it.
Not sure what I thought of the BMW i8 I saw. It was accelerating hard behind a Ferrari and sounded like a car with more cylinders than 3! More like a V8 - I think it has a sound generator to make it sound better. I'll check out more tomorrow when I go to the BMW museum because it's due to rain a bit.
* The Audi S6 V10 sounded rather nice when it drove past.
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Germans are grown-up about cars and speed. They are capable of alarming even me, and I thoroughly approve of their insouciant attitude to speed limits and other silly regulations.
Quite apart from Germany's spectacularly huge motorway smashes, one assumes these Munich hotshoes have to pay occasional eye-wateringly huge fines in Euros. But that's the name of the game if you've got the bread and are impatient, aggressive and reckless like a normal human being.
Heh heh...
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>> I thoroughly approve of their insouciant attitude to speed limits and other silly regulations.
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Does that include the ban on washing cars on Sundays. Ferchrisakes, what else are you supposed to do on a Sunday?!?!
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>> Not sure what I thought of the BMW i8 I saw.
HJ likes it: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/i8-2014/
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There is some serious money in Munich and the Bavarians are not afraid to show it, they are the Harry Enfield - Loadsamoney of Germany.
You must be on or close to Maximillianstraße.
Take a walk down there tonight if the opera (Max-Josef-Platz) is on, you will see some money.
Marienhof is a pleasant place to pass a few hours.
Last edited by: gmac on Sat 2 Aug 14 at 19:59
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>> You must be on or close to Maximillianstraße.
I was indeed walking down there when I saw a lot (not all) of the cars I mention.
The BMW i8 went past too quickly (accelerating) when I was walking down Ludwigstraße. It was following a Ferrari which was also travelling at a fair old speed. I didn't have much time to take in how it looked in the flesh so to speak. The reviews I've read rate it. Hence I know it has a sound generator to make it sound like a super car with say a V8 rather than a 3-cylinder engine.
cleantechnica.com/2014/03/31/video-bmw-i8-looks-sounds-like-supercar/
Cheating I call it. And might not have been going as fast as a real super car might need to in order to make that sort out sound. Does it make this sound when running in all electric mode? :-)
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sat 2 Aug 14 at 20:41
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The other surprise was how many men I've seen wearing lederhosen! I didn't think they did that these days. But evidently they do. :-) Some of the older ones seemed happy to pose for tourists' photo opportunities.
Maybe they're just getting ready for Oktoberfest? One man had lots of bits of animals and bones attached to his outfit including the heads of some animals/birds. Weird. He was clearly proud of these and was showing them to someone else dressed in a similar way.
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One of the hotels I've used in Munich rented out spaces in a secure area of their underground parking. Always full of expensive exotica including a very tasty Daytona Spyder the last time I was there.
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>> The other surprise was how many men I've seen wearing lederhosen! I didn't think they
>> did that these days. But evidently they do. :-) Some of the older ones seemed
>> happy to pose for tourists' photo opportunities.
>> way.
>>
Bavaria and Austria are closely linked culturally, so it doesn't surprise me. Here in Austria, it's the same re Lederhosen. It's not just worn for the tourists, it's traditional clothing that they will wear not only on special occasions, but as everyday wear. The price however would make your eyes water - I was looking at a pair of short Lederhosen just a week ago, and the ones made from deer are the most expensive at 1200 euros a pair (other animals are available ;-)). I even have a pair of my own but from a chain store at a less remarkable price.
Same with Austrian music, they don't have brass band concerts just for tourists, it's something they do for themselves.
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A three pot used to reportedly sound like an eight that was always the press quote when talking about the Daihatsu Charade GTti.
Take a walk into the Englis(c)h Garten tomorrow morning for costume viewing.
There used to be an elegant old lady who had a lace outfit complete with parasol. Sometimes she would be most accommodating to tourists taking photos, other times she'd try to knock them out with the parasol. AC would be in there like a rat up a drain pipe.
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P1 nightclub off Ludwigstraße at the south end of the Englisch Garten is a place to see supercars and famous footballers. I think Bayern Munich have a hospitality suite there.
Last edited by: gmac on Sat 2 Aug 14 at 22:12
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>> Take a walk into the Englis(c)h Garten tomorrow morning for costume viewing.
I'm going into Munich centre again tomorrow - I'm not in the centre as I'm staying near the offices. But the Englisch Garden stretches north of here to the centre.... Any clues where this happens. Slightly intrigued because I really didn't think the locals would dress like this in 2014!
Then on to BMW's museum. Weather not looking so good tomorrow.
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Weather not too favourable here tomorrow either. Going to Lancaster on the train with chums to take light refreshment. Probably not much lederhosen to be seen but plenty of old Micras. They sound quite throaty with a broken exhaust. The Micras that is.
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I usually bumped into her between Prinzregentenstraße and the Chinese Tower. On hot days she kept to the shade near the waterways.
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I just went into the centre of Munich, starting at Marienplatz and went for a wander for a few hours. And then get the U3 to the Olympic Park to go to BMW Werk and the museum.
The Olympic park was really crowded and a lot out to enjoy the weather. So I headed for BMW Werk. Saw some cars and chatted to some staff. I found out the exhaust of the i8 is what makes it sound like a V8 when revved. When it's all electric, it's silent/quiet.
There's also an M5 saloon there and it looks like it has had a wrap. But it's not a wrap it's just a special paint that makes it look that way. So everyone has left finger prints on it! And apparently you have to be careful polishing it. So in the real world, you'd have a car covered in greasy finger prints. Looked good mind - a nice blue colour. The model on display with extras was about €150k! Ouch.
And I'd caught wind of a bike 'race' at/near the Olympic park. It turns out to be a 7 day bike tour starting in Austria and tonight's stop has Neil Diamond as their entertainment. The poor sods have Chris de Burgh on Friday night. What an (anti-)climax to 7 days cycling :-)
And they cycled through the BMW Werk building when heading off.... after a €10 all you can eat meal outside.
I went across to the museum and thought I didn't want to spend time inside. So after some refreshments back at the hotel I might pop back into Munich or the English Garden.
And this site really cannot cope with replies to thread subjects with special characters...
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 3 Aug 14 at 15:05
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The other thing that was interesting to see. There was a display of some engines. The twin turbo 3.0l diesel was nearly as big as the twin turbo 4.4l V8. Perhaps not that surprising with one being a straight 6 diesel and the other a V8 petrol. And diesels are bigger/heavier.
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A nice walk to the middle of the English Garden takes you to the Chinese pagoda where there is a big area to grab some 'street-food' (Wurst of all sorts, grilled fish, etc, and a nice Mass-Bier to wash it down. Common to end up just chatting to locals on a day out who like to practise their English.
The Victuals Market(can't remember the German name) off the MarienPlatz is also good for that.
Beer from the Augustiner brewery is well worth a quaff.
Enjoy!
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Musings from Munich - Armel Coussine
