2025 season is here

As the seasons switched sharply from winter to summer within a month, it is now officially time to take the exotics out. 

I park my dailies in the same garage where Paris is stored during the winter and you can bet I have a smile on my face all year round. But now I can feel my blood boiling, the butterflies in my stomach and that unique mix of anxiety and unparalleled excitement. It’s time to drive Paris! 

This winter we established a rule - if a car doesn’t get driven enough (by that I mean at least one proper road trip per year or at least 1000km per year), it’s getting sold. So the race to keep them in the garage has began. 

The one we’re definitely parting ways with, is the Ultima. It just didn’t work out. Before we sell it, I’ll review the car and share my thoughts on it. It was a unique opportunity to experience something else. And we did. It’s currently getting ready to be sold, so that makes it official. We’re parting ways. I don’t see it staying in Bulgaria, it’ll likely go somewhere where the Ultima brand has a great recognition. If you’re interested and need more info on the Ultima, feel free to get in touch. 

The Murci is leaving in May to get its gated shifter, which should take about 2-3 weeks, so it’ll be back for some prime summer trips. I’m thinking of Transfăgărășan + Transylvania or Dubrovnik as tour destinations. Again, just like theSLRtour, I’ll post about theMURCItour and you’ll have an opportunity to shoot the car, see the car, touch the car, whatever comes to your mind (obviously it has to be respectful). I get that these are not taken out every day and it’s an event to see one. I would love to share such moments with you and it’ll be a pleasure to meet fellow enthusiasts. I want you to become a part of it and I’ll share the tour info once the Murci is back. 

Obviously there will be a conversion post. I’m super excited about the conversion, because it solves the main issue with the car and hopefully moving forward everything else works just fine. There isn’t a capable mechanic in Bulgaria to work on those, so while it’s getting the shifter, it’ll go through an in-depth inspection. Fingers crossed, because I love the car and I miss it so much!

Unlike the Murci, Paris is unproblematic and chill. 

She’s getting new custom wheels! This and the service are the only expenses for a whole year. She’s on her way to become one of the cheapest to maintain (after the Mustang). So, Shmee, you know nothing about SLRs! hah It’s an absolute pleasure to own it so far and we’re falling more and more in love with the SLR each day. It’s not going away anytime soon. 

Onto the wheels! The turbine wheels are iconic, I live for them. Absolutely gorgeous from every angle. They’re a hallmark of the aesthetics and the design of the SLR. I understand it can be strange not to have those on.

Somehow, someone throughout the rich history of the car decided to repaint Paris’ wheels. It wasn’t Ed, checked with him. But he had the same issue - rear left tire keeps deflating. New set of tires? Same issue! It keeps deflating. It needed a further investigation on what was causing it. That’s how we came to the realisation the wheels have been treated in the past. There is an obvious layer of paint once you remove the wheel. That paint and whatever caused the wheels to be repainted in the first place, destroy the structural integrity of the wheels. So Paris’ wheels are like hard cheese - hard, but still cheese. Lmao A safety hazard.

So, this is not an aesthetic change, although, wait until you see the new custom wheels! We'll try to bring the OEM wheels to their original state.

With Paris and Murci taking center stage, Monster as a daily, I think we'll have a proper season of automotive fun! We're very happy with the garage as is and we wouldn't have it any other way.

See you around!