Griot’s Garage, the company that makes and sells some of the best car care products out there, routinely uses its potions and magical tools to make the finishes on cars flawlessly stunning. We know; we’ve seen them do it.
As with most artists and perfectionists, the folks at Griot’s felt a need to do something more special, more intense, more demonstrative than create fine cleaners, polishes, waxes, and tools. They wanted to create something that screamed beauty and performance, and, oh yes, Griot’s Garage.
Here it is at last: the Griot's Garage World's Fastest Detail Wagen. It’s been in the works for months, but Griot’s Garage waited until last week’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, Nevada to reveal the Detail Wagen to the world.
They spell “Wagen” with an “e” because it’s German, and this is where it gets really good, because the World’s Fastest Detail Wagen is a 1989 E30 BMW Touring. So it’s a wagon, because BMW calls wagons “tourings,” and it’s also a wagon because it hauls loads of Griot’s equipment and products. Clever.
It’s also an M3—sort of. It looks like an M3. It performs like an M3, but it’s a Touring. Discerning Bimmerphiles will know that this beast could not have started life as an E30 M3 station wagon, because BMW never made an M3 Touring. But what this car may lose in authenticity, it more than makes up for in cool.
This particular 1989 E30 Touring was originally sent to Japan, was then imported into the U.S. and eventually came to Tacoma. Griot’s Garage worked with J-Rod & Custom of Auburn, Washington to build the car’s coachbuilder-quality body from the Touring. But wait; aren’t E30 Tourings four-doors? Normally, yes. In this case however, J-Rod & Custom removed the sedan front doors and replaced them with coupe doors that were nine inches longer, and modified the body to accept them. While that was going on, they added the distinctive E30 M3 flared fenders and other body panels.
Since Griot’s is all about making paint perfect, the finish on the car had to be exceptional. The Touring was sprayed with six coats of PPG Deltron “Griot’s Red” and six coats of clear.
Griot’s staff took care of the powertrain themselves at their Tacoma headquarters. Forrest Davis—who was also the project lead, inserted a 4.0-liter M60 V8 transplanted from a 1995 BMW 540i and mated it with a 540i six-speed manual gearbox, connected by a custom driveshaft to a 2.92 limited-slip differential. By adding a custom stainless steel header-back exhaust, the output was brought from the M60’s normal 282 horsepower to well over 300. By comparison, a 1989 E30’s M20 2.5-liter six-banger would normally have cranked out about 168 horsepower, while a 1989 E30 M3 Sport Evo had 235, so the Griot’s Garage Detail Wagen now has more than enough power to make the car’s performance match the body.
For a super-clean installation, Forrest shaved and filled the firewall and inner fenders and fully wire tucked the harnesses.
To make the car that now looks like an M3 handle and stop better than an ordinary E30, Griot’s installed Ground Control coilovers, upgraded anti-sway bars, and a Brembo big brake kit. The wheels are custom HRE 501M alloys—17x8 in front and 17x9 in the rear—shod with Falken Ultra-High Performance Azenis RT619K tires. The fronts are 215/40-17 while the back ones are 235/40-17.
It’s not just the body, paint, and engine that set this E30 apart from others. The interior has been redesigned and refurbished for the car's specific mission to deliver detailing and car care products—in style. McFarland Auto Upholstery put genuine M-Tech fabric on the seats and other pertinent surfaces. The rear seat was removed in favor of a custom display rack to showcase and access Griot’s detailing products. The rear cargo area includes a 15-gallon water tank and hose hookup, which makes the detailing products not just for show, but ready to use at a moment’s notice.
Griot’s is a valued sponsor of the BMW Car Club of America. You’ve seen them at Oktoberfests and Legends of the Autobahn. We really hope that when we see them again, they bring the Griot’s Garage World’s Fastest Detail Wagen. Not just for detailing demos, but also for rides!—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of Griot’s Garage.]
